Matthew Bennett/Post Independent
An armed robbery that occurred at a West Glenwood grocery store Saturday afternoon may be linked to an officer-involved shooting that shut down Interstate 70 near New Castle for several hours.
However, authorities are not saying at this time whether there is a connection to the case that left an as-yet unidentified man dead around 2 p.m. Saturday.
Salvador Barragán, owner of Azteca West in West Glenwood Springs, confirmed Sunday afternoon that his market was robbed at gunpoint, also on Saturday afternoon.
Barragan did not recall the specific time of the robbery but said that all of his employees were OK and that the suspect was a white male believed to be in his mid-30s or early 40s.
Interim Glenwood Springs Police Chief Bill Kimminau confirmed the West Glenwood armed robbery at the store, but also did not provide a specific time other than “Saturday afternoon.”
Kimminau declined to comment as to whether the robbery was related to the officer-involved shooting along I-70 between the Canyon Creek and New Castle exits.
According to Walt Stowe, spokesman for the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office, an inter-agency Critical Incident Team (CIT) has been assembled by the Ninth Judicial District to investigate the incident, and will be in charge of any further release of information.
“No further information will be released by the sheriff’s office,” Stowe said in an email response Sunday. “They (CIT) will determine what to release as their investigation proceeds or once their investigation is complete.”
Stowe indicated Saturday that investigators were awaiting the coroner’s report and were in the process of notifying next of kin.
Garfield County Coroner Robert Glassmire and Ninth District Attorney Jefferson Cheney were not immediately available for comment Sunday.
At around 2 p.m. Saturday, law enforcement officers and first responders from various agencies responded to an officer-involved shooting between mile markers 105 and 109 on I-70.
The incident shut down I-70 completely between New Castle and Glenwood Springs for several hours until about 8 p.m. Traffic was diverted onto the adjacent U.S. 6&24, which resulted bumper-to-bumper traffic in both directions after a head-on collision also closed that route for a period time.
According to Colorado State Patrol, a 17-year-old girl and an adult male were transported to an area hospital after “suffering serious injuries” in the crash that occurred while the detour was in effect.
CSP is investigating alcohol as a possible contributing factor to that crash, a State Patrol spokesman said on Sunday.
