Colorado Springs has been instituting new acts to save a little bit of money. However, not everyone is in accordance with one of the new measures of doing so. As the lights go down in the Springs, the violence, some say, has risen.
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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado Springs liquor store owner is blaming city cutbacks for increased crime in a darkened neighborhood, including a fatal shooting.
Gaspar Martinez, the owner of Ruskin Liquor, says violence in the area has increased since the city turned off a streetlight in front of his business to save money.
A 62-year-old man died after he was shot Sunday night outside the El Ranchito market, near Martinez's liquor store. Authorities haven't released his name. An autopsy is planned.
The cash-strapped city has turned off 8,000 lights for an estimated savings of $1.2 million this year in energy and maintenance. A task force including police, firefighters, utility workers, and traffic division workers chose the lights.