Police are searching for a man suspected of walking aggressively toward a Durango city employee with a buck knife in hand and a machete sheathed to his hip before slashing the employee’s truck tire.
The Durango Police Department identified a possible suspect as Quinten Dean Murphy, 39, who is from the San Juan County, New Mexico, area but has also been known to live in the Durango area, said DPD Cmdr. Nick Stasi.
The incident began shortly before noon Wednesday at Greenmount Cemetery, where an employee with the Parks and Recreation Department was speaking with an uninvolved woman about trespassing and camping at the cemetery, Stasi said.
Murphy is suspected of coming out of a tree line armed with a knife and a sheathed machete.
“He was approaching in a pretty threatening manner toward the employee who was in a vehicle,” Stasi said.
The employee felt threatened and pepper sprayed Murphy, he said. Murphy then slashed the employee’s city of Durango vehicle tire and fled, he said.
Police are unsure what motivated Murphy to allegedly approach the parks and recreation employee in a threatening manner.
“He wasn’t involved at all in the conversation with the female,” Stasi said. “He just appeared in the tree line completely on his own.”
Murphy is known to law enforcement. He has been involved in property crimes locally, and he is a registered sex offender from somewhere outside the Durango area.
It was unknown if he is living homeless or with family members.
Police have received numerous tips about Murphy’s possible whereabouts, but as of Thursday afternoon they had been unable to locate him.
Murphy is described as being white, 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing about 235 pounds. He should be considered armed and dangerous. Anyone who spots him is asked to call 911.
A warrant has been issued for his arrest on suspicion of felony menacing and criminal mischief for slashing the tire.
shane@durangoherald.com
