This story first appeared in a Colorado Community Media newspaper. Support CCM’s neighborhood news.
A tumultuous week for Joshua Jered Rodriguez, who is running as a Democrat to represent Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, has concluded with his booking in the Jefferson County jail.
Arvada Police Department Public Information Officer Dave Snelling confirmed that Rodriguez was booked before 7 a.m. on Thursday.
Snelling said he was still looking into the circumstances of Rodriguez’s arrest. Public records show that Rodriguez was apprehended by the Jefferson County Sherriff’s Office.
Rodriguez, who has previously run for mayor in Arvada, faced an arrest warrant stemming from multiple felony charges, including identity theft and forgery.
On Feb. 15, it was reported that Rodriguez, 37, launched a campaign website with a donations page and signed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Feb. 4 listing an Arvada address that Jefferson County property records show was sold to a different owner in 2021.
Rodriguez was charged with nine counts of identity theft, one count of forgery and one count of attempted cybercrime in October 2020 and two counts of attempting to influence a public servant in December 2020 after he was accused of trying to set up multiple fraudulent GoFundMe pages in the name of Julia Vitanyi, the moderator of the popular Arvada Neighbors Facebook group.
Rodriguez did not attend his scheduled court appearance on May 5, 2021. A warrant for his arrest was issued on May 10, 2021.
Read more at arvadapress.com.
CORRECTION: This story was updated at 8:18 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022, to correct an editor’s error. Joshua Jered Rodriguez is running in the 8th Congressional District as a Democrat.