LAKEWOOD, Colo. — A known violent sex offender is in the process of being evicted from his Lakewood apartment after a misdemeanor citation for public indecency.
According to Lakewood police, 42-year-old Derrick Coffman was cited for public indecency on Dec. 21 at his apartment complex at West 16th Avenue and Reed Street.
Neighbors claim he urinated on the front stoop of a unit belonging to Chevon Menard, a single mom who lives with her two children. Lakewood police would not confirm specifics regarding the incident.
“It’s rough now, because we don’t feel safe at home,” says Menard. “We have to barricade doors. We have to put sticks in the windows to make sure nobody can come inside. My daughter’s afraid to come home. She didn’t come home for about two weeks after that.”
Menard contacted the Problem Solvers following the incident, wondering why Coffman hadn’t been evicted. Menard lives directly next door to Coffman with her 9-year-old and infant daughters.
“Something should have been done. Something should have been done a long time ago. I feel like she just wanted the money and didn’t care about anyone’s safety,” Menard said of her landlord.
Her landlord, Nancy Strickland, says Coffman gave her false information while performing a background check. She says she otherwise would have never approved his unit directly next to children.
Strickland also tells the Problem Solvers she is working to have Coffman evicted immediately.
Menard says it’s too late and she can’t keep her family around that apartment anymore.
“The immediate fix is for us to leave. Since he hasn’t been removed from the property, that’s the only option. I refuse to stay here knowing he is still there,” said Menard.