From Edgewater Police Chief John Mackey:
On Wednesday (8/29/2018) we received a call from the Aurora Police Department that they had located a violent fugitive in the 2200 block of Depew St. and requested our assistance.
Edgewater Officers responded and attempted to make contact with the person, although no one answered the door despite officers seeing someone appearing similar to the wanted person in a nearby window, as well as a young child about 4 years of age. It was learned that the child belonged to the woman who rented the home although she was not there. Edgewater Officers immediately placed Edgewater Elementary School on “Lockout” which prevents anyone from entering the school.
Due to the violent history of the wanted person, and the unknown status of the 4 year old child Edgewater Officers notified our regional Jefferson County SWAT Team to assist in entering the home on Depew St.
Our SWAT Team utilized Drone Surveillance while Edgewater Officers and SWAT provided a secure perimeter around the home. Officers were in telephone contact with the fugitive for several hours although he refused to exit the home or release the child.
Edgewater Officers worked with the Edgewater Elementary Staff and Jefferson County School Security in the safe exit of students at the end of their school day at 3:15PM while the standoff was still ongoing. Edgewater Police thank Principal Katherine Chumacero and Assistant Principal Marcella D’Orazio as well as Jefferson County School Security Director John McDonald and his 15 officers that assisted Edgewater Officers in the controlled release of students to parents.
During the course of the next 90 minutes communication with the fugitive ceased, and SWAT forcibly entered the home and were able to rescue the child while combatting the fugitive. The fugitive was subsequently arrested, and was lodged in the Jefferson County Jail on multiple felony warrants as well as new charges associated with the incident. Thank you to Commander Fowle and Sergeants Geerdes and Forsythe for managing SWAT and this operation to a safe closure for all involved and to all of our Edgewater Officers who assisted on scene and at Edgewater Elementary School in assuring the safety of our students!
Joel has been a resident of Edgewater, Colorado with his family since 2012. He is the Executive Director of local education nonprofit Edgewater Collective and Editor of the Edgewater Echo.
None of the major outlets – Channel 9, News4, Channel 2, DenverChannel can be bothered to cover news like this. It’s like Lakewood, Edgewater and Wheat Ridge don’t exist. Sadly, local journalism no longer exists, it seems.