Colorado Homicide Suspect Arrested in Laramie County

An alleged murderer is behind bars following an early morning traffic stop in Laramie County.

According to Sheriff Brian Kozak, it all started around 5:20 a.m. this morning, June 20, after his deputies received a BOLO (be on the lookout) for a homicide suspect out of Thornton, Colorado.

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Kozak says a deputy spotted the suspect vehicle as it was coming into Wyoming, deputies asked for backup, and the Wyoming Highway Patrol showed up.

Grappler Used to Stop Homicide Suspect

"The trooper that showed up has one of those Grapplers," Kozak said Friday morning in his Sheriff's Update. "It sends out a netting (and) catches the rear wheel to prevent a pursuit from happening."

"So, the idea was to actually get behind the vehicle, initiate the Grappler, (and) initiate the traffic stop," he added. "And so, they did that and the edge of the trooper vehicle caught the edge of the road and it rolled."

Kozak says the trooper was wearing his seat belt and, thankfully, wasn't injured, and they got the suspect stopped.

"Hats off to the trooper in this situation because he did not want to risk having a homicide suspect at large in our community and nor did they want to risk having a high-speed pursuit as people (were) waking up and headed to work," said Kozak.

"Unfortunately, they could not see into the vehicle because the windows were so dark," he added. "So, they're calling him out and he's not moving ... so, they deploy a 40 mm ... and bust out the windows in the truck so they can see in."

Homicide Suspect Arrested, Booked on Window Tint Violation

Kozak says the suspect was taken into custody without incident, but because the Thornton Police Department didn't have an arrest warrant done due to the homicide investigation still being fluid, he was booked into the Laramie County Detention Center on a window tint violation.

"We have him in our jail until Thornton is ready to pick him up," said Kozak. "I'm not going to release the suspect's name at this point because I'm going to let the Thornton PD do that in their news release when they get their warrant together."

UPDATE:

Wyoming Highway Patrol Col. Tim Cameron in a Facebook post on Friday afternoon, thanked all participating agencies for their coordination and steadfast commitment to community safety.

"This incident is a powerful example of the strong partnerships among Wyoming’s law enforcement agencies," said Cameron.

"Our Troopers responded in a supporting role with precision and courage," he added. "I’m proud of their actions and grateful that there were no serious injuries."