Man suspected of stealing truck, guns from Moffat County property arrested after manhunt

An all-day manhunt ended Friday in the arrest of a man suspected of stealing a pickup truck and guns from a property in rural Moffat County, police said.

Valentin Velez, 43, was found near a county road with a loaded firearm, a “distribution amount” of suspected fentanyl and drug paraphernalia, according to a Moffat County sheriff’s news release.

He was arrested on suspicion of unlawful distribution of fentanyl, second-degree burglary, theft, two counts of motor vehicle theft, possession of a weapon by a previous offender, unlawful carrying of a concealed weapon, second-degree criminal trespass, obstruction of a peace officer and violation of a protection order.

Deputies first responded to a burglary-in-progress report at a property near Moffat County roads 3 and 106 at about 10:15 a.m. A pickup reported stolen from the property was spotted later in the day on County Road 7 near Cedar Mountain but eluded deputies.

A witness told deputies that the truck drove up the mountain, which is in a rugged area controlled by the federal Bureau of Land Management.

Area residents were told to shelter in place, and a team that included Craig police and law enforcement officers from the BLM and Colorado Parks and Wildlife set up an incident command post in Cedar Mountain’s lower parking lot.

Officers found the truck and stolen guns after a search but did not locate Velez, whom they continued to search for throughout the day.

Shortly after 8 p.m., deputies responding to a report of a suspicious man walking south on County Road 7 found Velez and arrested him after a brief foot chase, during which they deployed Tasers.

Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to contact law enforcement at 970-824-6501.

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