Je co Sheri K-9 killed trying to apprehend suspect in Golden

29-year-old suspect arrested for animal cruelty, felony menacing

BY CORINNE WESTEMAN CWESTEMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

e Golden Police Department has identi ed the 29-year-old man who reportedly killed a Je erson County Sheri K-9 and pointed a gun at an o cer early Feb. 13.

Eduardo Armando Romero was arrested on suspicion of 12 possible charges, including aggravated animal cruelty, felony menacing, motor vehicle theft and driving under the in uence. After being cleared by medical personnel, he was taken to the county jail Feb. 13.

e Je co Sheri ’s O ce conrmed K-9 Gra t died at the scene Feb. 13. e community gave Gra t a formal law enforcement procession from Golden to Fort Collins later that morning.

Gra t had been with JCSO since 2015, and was trained in narcotics detection, tracking, apprehension and other disciplines. JCSO posted on its Facebook page that Gra t gave his life to protect his handler and other o cers on scene.

“Gra t is one of us,” the sheri ’s o ce stated. “He is our family, and we are heartbroken that he made the ultimate sacri ce in the line of duty.” e o ce added that it’s working on plans to formally honor Gra t and his family, and thanked everyone locally and around the world for all their support.

The Feb. 13 incident

Around 12:15 a.m. Feb. 13, Golden police and Colorado School of Mines campus police contacted a vehicle near 19th and Elm streets, on or near the Mines campus. According to GPD Sgt. Ben Salentine, the vehicle was blocking the roadway, and Romero was slumped over the steering wheel and was unresponsive to o cers trying to wake him.

Romero was the only person in the vehicle, and Colorado School of Mines has con rmed he’s not associated with the university.

He eventually woke and began driving slowly west on 19th Street, reportedly swerving into oncoming tra c before coming to a stop at Tangent Way. He then slumped over again, and o cers attempted to wake him.

Romero then woke and rammed into two patrol cars while trying to escape, Salentine said. O cers broke the driver’s side window, put the vehicle in park, and attempted to remove Romero. He was able to free himself from o cers’ grasp and ran eastbound on 19th Street.

As a GPD o cer chased him, Romero reportedly pointed a handgun at the o cer and kept running east over U.S. Highway 6, hiding somewhere on or near the Mines campus, Salentine described.

GPD and other local law enforcement agencies established a perim- eter, as Colorado School of Mines and Je erson County both issued shelter-in-place alerts. e JCSO K-9 unit deployed Gra t with an order to apprehend. Romero then reportedly shot and killed Gra t, and a sheri ’s deputy returned re. e deputy did not hit Romero, Salentine clari ed, adding that he was unsure whether Gra t’s handler returned re or an accompanying deputy did.

After a sheri ’s SWAT team arrived and began searching the area, Romero came out of hiding and surrendered to perimeter units around 5 a.m. He had a holster without a gun in it, but a gun was located nearby, according to Salentine.

He also emphasized that the incident is still under investigation by the Colorado School of Mines Police Department and the First Judicial District Attorney’s Critical Incident Response Team.