By Pablo Carlos Mora
Pueblo Chieftain
PUEBLO, Colo. — The suspect in an alleged attempt to blow up a police officer’s home was arrested due to the efforts of an alert parole officer, police said Wednesday.
Robert Bruce was found at about 6 p.m. Tuesday in his car in the parking lot of the North Side Kmart store, according to police Sgt. Eric Bravo.
Bruce was sought Tuesday after police officer Nathan Pruce found a propane tank outside his Pueblo West home that was spewing an explosive substance into the home.
The substance was vented from the home and no one was injured.
Officer Pruce was scheduled to testify Tuesday at Bruce’s trial on misdemeanor charges of unlawful sexual content-peeping Tom and second-degree trespassing. Bruce did not show up for the trial.
“We had been out looking for him with a $75,000 bond warrant for failure to appear at his trial,” Bravo said. “We were searching the area around Kmart because Bruce worked on Outlook Boulevard and it is half-a-mile away from his house on Cascade.”
Bravo said other law enforcement agencies were asked to look out for Bruce, who was driving a silver 1986 Honda Prelude with New Mexico license plates.
“Bruce has ties to New Mexico. His mother and wife live in Albuquerque and we thought he might head that way,” Bravo said.
The state parole office in Pueblo was notified “because we often work in cooperation with those officers,” Bravo said.
One parole officer, whom Bravo did not identify, asked to help in the search.
“He called and asked us if we needed any assistance. We said we could use any help offered to us,” Bravo said.
After his shift, the parole officer began looking for Bruce and spotted his car in the far southwest corner of the Kmart parking lot.
“He notified us and we arrested Bruce without incident,” Bravo said. The arrest was made “by Detective Glen Fillmore, myself and the parole officer,” Bravo said.
“Bruce appeared to be very lethargic; he actually looked like he was passed out,” Bravo said. “He was taken by ambulance to Parkview (Medical Center). He was released and taken to jail.”
The Pueblo County Sheriff’s Department is leading the investigation into the case.
Copyright 2009 Pueblo Chieftain