Foothills Hitchhiking Attack Suspect Captured
BROOMFIELD, Colo. (CBS4) - Boulder County authorities have arrested the teenager they believe is responsible for attacking a 71-year-old woman earlier this week.
Jeffrey Collins, 16, of Arvada, was arrested in Broomfield on Thursday on suspicion of attempted homicide.
Authorities said the arrest was made by Boulder County Sheriff's detectives, who worked with U.S. Marshalls and Broomfield police to "follow leads throughout the day."
Collins is was arrested on charges of first degree murder and first degree assault of an at-risk adult. He is suspected of attacking Katie Kulpa in the Boulder County foothills near the town of Ward.
Kulpa picked up Collins and two other hitchhikers in Lefthand Canyon on Monday. She invited them to her cabin to wait for a ride. That's where Collins allegedly beat her and caused serious injuries.
Collins allegedly wanted to steal Kulpa's car and the two others he was with told police he wound up hitting her repeatedly with a fire poker and then left.
He is being held at a juvenile detention center and his bond has been set at $1 million.
Kulpa's son Kurtis Leverentz told CBS4 news of the arrest comes as a huge relief to he and his mother, who remains in the hospital.
"(My mom) is kind of chiming in on this phone call I'm having with this sergeant, and he told me that they had him in custody and I think the first thing I said is 'You got him?' and he said 'Yup, we got him. He's in Broomfield and we're going to transfer him over to Boulder County tonight.'
"And I just looked at my mom and I just said to her 'We have him mom. We got him.'"
Additional Resources
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help Katie Kulpa.
Officials with the Boulder County Sheriff's Office released the following information about this case:
Detectives continue the investigation into the assault and are specifically looking for the driver of the white hatch back that picked up Collins in the 13000 block of Lefthand Canyon and gave him a ride to Ward. Anyone with information about the assault is asked to contact Det. Shatek at 303-441-3633. The associated case number for this investigation is 16-5812.
