DENVER — The Denver District Attorney’s Office said Tuesday it is not filing charges at this time against a teenager in custody for the death of taxi driver Darren Bloomquist.
The 17-year-old was arrested on an unrelated charge on Sept. 10 and Denver police said Sept. 17 they served the teen with an arrest warrant for first-degree murder in the death of Bloomquist.
But the district attorney’s office said the case is still under investigation and charges could be filed at a later date. The teenager remains in juvenile custody on an unrelated case.
Police zeroed in on the suspect “through really good police work,” a Denver police spokesman said last week.
Bloomquist, 49, was killed in the early-morning hours of Sept. 5 when he picked up a fare in the area of 20000 E. Mitchell Place in Denver’s Green Valley Ranch neighborhood.
Bloomquist was moonlighting as a driver to help pay the bills of his wife, Melva, who could not work because of an injury.
Oakwood Homes, a company headquartered in Green Valley Ranch, said it will match donations to Bloomquist’s family, up to $10,000. Metro Taxi is also putting up a $5,000 reward for tips leading to an arrest. That’s on top of a $2,000 reward offered from Crime Stoppers.
Anyone with information is asked to call 720-913-2000.