A man wanted for questioning in a fire that destroyed a home on County Road 27 led to a five-hour manhunt Monday afternoon in the Rustic Ridge area, Montezuma County Sheriff Steve Nowlin said on Tuesday.
Deputies apprehended the man about 8 p.m. Monday on County Road 26 after a resident reported that a suspicious person was in the area.
“He is in custody and has arrest warrants from previous incidents. It was important to find him,” Nowlin said.
Deputies were searching the area by foot and vehicle, and an aircraft was called in from San Juan County, New Mexico to assist in the search.
A truck stolen from the residence was found a half-mile away, high-centered and still running.
The captured fugitive, who was wanted for questioning in the house fire, is suspected of stealing the truck. The home was apparently broken into.
“The investigation is ongoing, and charges are expected later today,” Nowlin said Tuesday.
The house belonged to Thomas and Lorna Gift, who were away when the fire started. There were no injuries, and three dogs and a cat escaped the fire through a dog door.
The Dolores Fire Department responded to the fire about 3 p.m. after a passerby reported smoke coming from windows and the roof, said Dolores Fire Chief Mike Zion.
“When I pulled up, fire had spread to the roof and was coming out the walls,” he said. “It looked like it had been burning for a while before anybody noticed and called it in.”
Dolores Fire responded with two engine crews and two tanker crews, and the Cortez and Mancos fire departments assisted. The fire was knocked down in an hour, and crews mopped up for several hours.
“They had a nice place and lost everything,” Zion said.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation has been called in to assist with the fire investigation.
jmimiaga@the-journal.com
