Neighbors Along RTD W Line Worry About Drugs & Crime: 'There's Open Drug Dealing'
(CBS4) - Recently shot drone video showing the RTD W light rail station on Knox Court in Denver shows groups congregating, some not waiting for a train at all. Neighbors say drugs, including fentanyl, are rampant.
"They are all doing the same thing, they are shooting up, getting high, selling fentanyl," said a female resident of an apartment building nearby.
The danger is the reason she did not want to show her face for a CBS4 interview. There's danger as close as her building's garage. Security camera video recently captured there shows a man beating a female senior citizen before walking away. She was seriously hurt.
"She went down to the garage, and they broke into her car, and they came over and beat her up," one resident said.
Her friend used his drone to document what he said was drug sales and use at the station.
"A person takes foil, a straw and lights up on the corner of a building."
He, too, says the problems seemed to be tied to drug users from Union Station moving on down the RTD line.
The building resident who spoke with CBS4 said she cannot walk her dog without being disturbed.
"There's open drug dealing. There's people just stoned out of their minds. They approached me and asked me if I wanted to buy drugs," she said.
She said she was offered "blues," a street term for the deadly drug fentanyl.
RTD issued the following statement to CBS4:
"RTD Transit Police is aware of the narcotics issue at Knox Station. The Transit Police is continuing to patrol and be visible at and around the station. Transit Police is also relying on their partnership with the Denver Police Department for assistance. In addition, RTD Transit Police has been restructured to four patrol-specific teams, known as Impact Teams, that have a dedicated area of responsibility. The Rail Impact Team creates an increased presence of dedicated officers on light rail services and continues to make positive contacts along the system. RTD asks its customers to download the RTD Transit Watch App to send suspicious incidents directly to the Transit Police Communications Division."