David Accomazzo
Rocky Mountain News
DENVER — A man suspected of robbing a credit union Wednesday morning surrendered to Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies several hours later, ending a daylong search.
The suspect, identified as Tobias Archuleta, 27, called police around 3:30 p.m. from the Southwest Plaza shopping center, according to Jim Shires, spokesman for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. He was arrested without incident a short time later.
They also recovered an undisclosed sum of money and the handgun Archuleta allegedly used to fire two shots when the robbery began at the Bellco Credit Union at 10058 W. Progress Ave. in southern Jefferson County.
Surveillance video released by the sheriff’s office showed the suspect, wearing a baseball cap and jeans, walking through the front door of the credit union at 9:15 a.m.
He was not displaying a weapon.
John Wyckoff, a retired Denver police officer now serving as the credit union’s security consultant, said the gunman walked in shortly after the building opened, opened fire and ordered everyone to get down on the floor. No one was injured.
An employee at the credit union called to alert police that a robbery was under way, Shires said.
A short time later, the robber fled, taking a set of keys from an employee and driving away in a silver Dodge minivan, Shires said. Members of the Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force recovered the abandoned vehicle about a mile northwest of the credit union at West Tulane Avenue and South Quail Street.
SWAT teams evacuated employees and customers. Because of conflicting information about a possible second suspect, everyone was led away in handcuffs.
“It was for everybody’s safety that we restrained them until we could identify who everybody was,” Shires said. After brief questioning, everyone was released, he said.
Archuleta was booked into the Denver jail on investigation of federal bank robbery charges.
There were 208 bank robberies in Colorado in 2006, according to FBI reports. Complete figures for 2007 were not available.
The Associated Press and staff writer John Ensslin contributed to this report.
Copyright 2008 Denver Publishing Company