How we covered a contentious story, and why

There’s been a lot of heated discussion on Facebook and elsewhere over the last week about our Nov. 5 article, “Boulder business owners charged in chase.” The comments raise some important concerns, so I’d like to explain how and why we published that story.

First, the how: On Oct. 20, we (and, I expect, many others) began hearing reports of an incident involving two Boulder business owners and their friends. The altercation supposedly involved side-by-side vehicles, a fight and a firearm — and, we were told, the business owners and their friends had been arrested.

Our editor, David Lepeska, reached out to the four local figures said to be involved, but none were willing to discuss it. With little more than hearsay to go on at that point, we decided to leave the story alone.