ARVADA, Colo. – A Denver detective was shot multiple times trying to stop a robbery at an Arvada convenience store.
The robbery and subsequent shooting was reported around 8:45 on Wednesday morning.
A statewide alert was issued for the suspected shooter, who was able to get away from the scene.
Just before 10 on Wednesday night, police announced the suspect was taken into custody, KKTV reported.
Detective David Snelling with the Arvada Police Department said they received tips that led them to the location of the suspect’s car at an apartment complex parking lot in the 8200 block of Sheridan Boulevard around 5 p.m. Snelling said they then found the suspect in the same parking lot and took him into custody without incident, 9News reported.
The detective shot is a 14-year veteran of the Denver Police Department. The detective was off duty at the time and was just another customer at the Circle K Wednesday morning when the robbery occurred.
“So here’s a situation where the officer is with his family member and interrupts a robbery in progress. The detective displayed great courage here, interrupting somebody that’s armed and dangerous, taking action in order to protect our community. This detective should be recognized for this immediate action that they took here,” said Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen.
“We put our lives on the line and it shows today when that Denver officer, when he was off-duty tried to intervene in an armed robbery,” said Sara Horan with APD. “It shows that he kind of went above and beyond what his duties were and unfortunately was injured.”
The unnamed Denver detective was immediately shot after confronting the suspect in the gas station parking lot, Horan said. The suspect then fled the parking lot south, collided with a passerby’s vehicle and fled northbound on Kipling Parkway, according to an APD bulletin.
The detective was shot several times in both arms and was last listed in fair condition. A family member was with him at the time of the shooting, and that family member provided immediate first aid.
“It’s got to be hard for the family to know that their loved one was shot so close to the holiday,” said Horan. “We’re extremely fortunate that he’s alive.”
Arvada police did not identify the suspect as they believe he’s been involved in additional crimes, and they do not want to taint those investigations.
Police detectives are looking into whether the same man is responsible for two other recent armed robberies in Erie and Westminster.
Around 10:30 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 16, a man with a handgun demanded money from the register at the Circle K convenience store located at the intersection of Highway 287 and Arapahoe Road in Erie, according to a bulletin from Erie Police Department.
After getting money, the suspect left northbound on Highway 287 in a vehicle described as gold Chevrolet Equinox made between 2010 and 2015, according to Erie police.
The Winchells Donuts at 7930 Sheridan Blvd. was robbed under similar circumstances around 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the department said.
Cheri Spottke with Westminster police said no one was hurt in the incident. She said the suspect description in that robbery matches the suspect in the incident in Arvada Wednesday.
