http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_3427119,00.htmlMissing children found
Amber Alert ends with police chase, Springs man's arrest
By John C. Ensslin, Rocky Mountain News
December 27, 2004
BRIGHTON - Police arrested a Colorado Springs lawyer who was the subject
of an Amber Alert on Sunday after he allegedly failed to return his two
small daughters to their mother after a Christmas visit.
Officers subdued David A. Scott, 41, with a Taser device after he led them
on a brief foot chase, said Brighton Police Sgt. John Bradley. Scott was
not armed, police said.
His two daughters, Heather, 2, and Nicole, 4, were returned unharmed to
their mother about two hours later, police said.
Scott's arrest ended a statewide search for the two girls, whom Colorado
Springs police said were supposed to have been returned to their mother at
8 p.m. Saturday.
The case began in Denver around 1:30 p.m. Saturday when Denver police were
called to the La Quinta Inn at 1975 S. Colorado Blvd. on a report of
criminal mischief.
Police said they found "significant damage" to the room, which suggested a
disturbance had taken place. A Denver homicide detective and a fire
investigator helped examine the hotel room. Police also searched a nearby
garbage container.
Denver police spokesman John White said the room looked "suspicious," but
declined to elaborate.
Meanwhile, Denver police contacted Colorado Springs police after learning
Scott had been the last person to rent the motel room.
Colorado Springs police contacted Scott's former wife, Elizabeth Scott,
who told them her daughters were supposed to have been returned Saturday
night under a court-ordered visitation agreement.
After Scott failed to drop the children off near a local drugstore,
Colorado Springs police contacted the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and
initiated an Amber Alert.
Around noon Sunday, Scott and his two daughters sat down for breakfast at
a Village Inn restaurant in Brighton.
He ordered bacon and eggs and a small chocolate milk for one of the girls.
A customer at the restaurant who had seen the Amber Alert recognized
Scott's rented red Chrysler Sebring and alerted police. Both the front and
back seats of the car were filled with clothing, crackers and stuffed
animals.
When officers arrived, one of them went inside and asked Scott to step
outside. He complied, but as soon as he got outside, witnesses said he set
his 2-year-old daughter down and ran north.
Janina Million, of Dacono, was walking into the restaurant when the chase
began.
"He took off running and all of a sudden a cop comes out," Million said.
"He (the officer) yells at us, 'grab the kids' and then he takes off
running after the guy."
Million and another customer, Coco O'Neill, of Brighton, took the children
inside the restaurant.
"They were completely hysterical," O'Neill said. "We just held them until
they quieted down."
She said the girls were crying out for their father.
Brighton officers chased Scott about 120 yards to a parking lot outside a
Kmart store.
After disregarding the officer's commands to stop, Bradley said one of the
officers fired his Taser, a nonlethal stun gun, and subdued Scott.
Court records show that Scott, an attorney who practices in Colorado
Springs, filed for divorce this summer.
He has been arrested five times in the past year as a result of domestic
violence allegations. The most recent arrest was Dec. 18.
The El Paso County district attorney dropped several of the charges
against him, but Scott is awaiting trial in March on the remaining charges
of false imprisonment, harassment and violating the terms of his bond,
records show.
Elizabeth Scott, 34, has obtained three restraining orders against her
former husband.
Details of her allegations could not be obtained Sunday. David Scott's
mother, reached in another state, said her son has shared custody with his
ex-wife and was responsible for his daughters on weekdays.
"He's a man who loves his kids dearly and would do anything in the world
for them," Ann Beirn said.
Beirn, who declined to comment further, said her son has been traumatized
by his divorce.
Denver police Sunday evening determined that no charges will be filed in
connection with the damaged hotel room because Scott agreed to cover the
costs.
Charges were still possible in Adams and El Paso counties.
Domestic violence activists worry about the long-term effects for children
who are exposed to violence and disputes between their parents.
"The trauma that it puts on the children, I think, is the most frightening
for all of us," said Jeneen Klippel- Worden, director of development for
the Gateway Battered Women's Shelter in Aurora.
"It's not going to be a happy ending unless someone gives them some
intervention."
ensslinj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-5291 Staff writers Sarah Huntley
and Jennifer Miller contributed to this report.
"Children learn what they live"
