Marty Duman’s dad bought the apartment building in Cap Hill on the southeast corner of Pennsylvania and Colfax back in the 1960s. He’s been going there since he was 10 years old.
“I’ve seen it change drastically, where we leave with tears in our eyes, because I remember what it was. … It’s depressing for someone born and raised in Denver. Here I am, going to that neighborhood since the ‘60s, and now my dad’s in heaven, crying,” he said.
Marty’s son, Chad Duman, said he’s had guns and knives pulled on him on the corner.
“I’m afraid to park in my own parking lot,” he said. “Nobody wants to live in my building. I don’t blame them.”
The father-son duo was among a dozen or so property owners and residents from the 1300 and 1400 blocks of Pennsylvania and Pearl streets in Cap Hill attending a meeting at city hall Friday. The event was initiated by the neighbors and organized by their councilman, Chris Hinds.
The subject: how to address the rampant crime and homelessness in the four blocks south of Colfax Avenue.
“There is nothing like Capitol Hill in this area, from Dallas to the east, all the way to Phoenix to the west. It’s just a very, very unique situation,” said Deputy Police Chief Aaron Sanchez.
“We, as a police department, for decades have decided to try to solve the problem through enforcement. We’ll arrest them, and it’ll make the problem go away. And we have failed miserably.”
The area has had its share of public struggles. Last year, at a McDonald’s across the street from the Duman building, BusinessDen uncovered an illicit market involving seemingly stolen goods. And Natural Grocers closed its store in the 1400 block of Pearl in late 2024 following over 100 police calls in nine months.
“We lost our Natural Grocers in that neighborhood because of the crime that was taking place,” neighborhood resident Preston Enright said at the meeting.
Police officers at the meeting said they’ve been making improvements in patrolling the area and cracking down on crime.
“The arrests that the police have made are up 90%. We’ve made 110 more arrests year-to-date this year than we did last year, with the top five charges being warrant arrests, drug paraphernalia, trespassing, possession of a controlled substance and public consumption of alcohol,” said Commander Kimberly Bowser, who oversees the neighborhood as part of District Six.
Those numbers are specific to the four-block radius of Pennsylvania and Pearl streets, she said.
Some neighbors turned their ire to Network Coffee House, a nonprofit at 1402 Pearl that offers homeless people free coffee and an indoor spot to hang out.
“You guys ruin the neighborhood,” resident June Gordon said.
The nonprofit’s executive director stood up in response moments later.
“We’ve been around for 44 years. We’ve been in the same place since ’88 when we bought the building and renovated it,” said Ian Stitt. “I just want to let you know that we didn’t ruin the neighborhood because we’ve been there longer than you have.
“Homelessness and substance use has existed in Capitol Hill for far longer than any of us have existed in Capitol Hill,” he added. “Pearl and 15th, and Pearl and 16th, and Pearl and 14th have historically had crack dealing.”
Stitt gave an impassioned defense of his organization, but acknowledged that it’s difficult to control what goes on outside his property. He pointed the finger at bad actors who come to the neighborhood to sell drugs to those visiting the coffee house.
No direct action was taken at the meeting, but resources about forming a neighborhood watch were shared with participants. Hinds, the councilman who organized the event, acknowledged that his ability to solve the issues immediately were limited.
“In City Council, we do legislation, we do land use, and so enforcement is entirely in the executive branch,” he said.
The councilman promised that a follow-up meeting would take place to lock down a plan for better enforcement going forward.
The neighbors continued to go around the table, each sharing stories. One property owner said he cleans up trash all along the 1400 block of Pearl, multiple times a day, going from one end to the other. Another resident called the same stretch “anarchy alley.”
Logan Goolsby said he’s been mugged three times in the six years he’s lived in the neighborhood. He shared a story of how his car was broken into last April.
“He fell asleep in my vehicle while breaking into my car. I had multiple pictures of him sleeping in my car,” he said. “It took three hours for a police response.”
“Eventually, my neighbor had to come out with bear spray and spray him out of the car. I had to get my car detailed.”
