Manhunt for cop killers
Authorities blanket Utah border in search of 3 gunmen
Copyright © 1998 The Durango Herald. All rights reserved.
Cortez residents close shops, lock doors
Hovenweep superintendent in wrong place at wrong time
Ready

Herald/Jerry McBride

DURANGO POLICE Department SWAT member Officer Ed Aber, right, applies camouflage paint to Patrolman Brad Milligin Friday as they prepare to look for suspected police killers near Hovenweep National Monument.

Manhunt Herald/Jerry McBride

LA PLATA County sheriff’s officer Todd Hitti, readies Friday for a manhunt for suspected police killers at Hovenweep National Monument. An officer was shot to death in his patrol car near Cortez, triggering the search for at least two suspects.

May 30, 1998

By Amy Maestas and Joshua Moore
Herald Staff Writers

Three men, clad in camouflage and carrying automatic assault rifles, ripped through downtown Cortez in a stolen water truck Friday and sprayed bullets through a police car, killing a Cortez police officer before leading deputies on a chase through the rugged backcountry near the Colorado-Utah border.

The suspects remained at large late Friday after they abandoned another stolen truck at Cross Canyon, just south of Pleasant View, and fled on foot.

Officer Dale Claxton, 45, was killed about 9:45 a.m. after he stopped the water truck one mile south of Cortez on County Road 27, said Cortez City Manager Bill Ray. The truck had been reported stolen from Ignacio a day earlier.

Site

Herald/Jerry McBride

THIS AERIAL photo, taken from the television station KREZ Jetchopper, show where the suspects ran a stolen flatbed truck off the road Friday in the area of Cross Canyon near the Utah state line. Accused of killing a police officer, the fugitives fled on foot into a ravine.

Gov. Roy Romer said late Friday that he had dispatched a National Guard helicopter unit to help search out those who "assassinated" the policeman.

"Looks like a paramilitary unit," Romer said. "A bunch of kooks or demented persons."

Cortez Police Chief Roy Lane said the suspects jumped out of the truck and opened fire on Claxton, shooting him through the windshield of his patrol car, killing him instantly. Witnesses said the gunmen fired off 40 to 50 rounds of bullets, riddling the patrol car with bullet holes and shooting out all the windows.

Two Montezuma County sheriff’s deputies also were shot. Jason Bishop, 28, was grazed in the head, and Todd Martin, 35, was shot in the left arm and right knee. Both were in stable condition Friday night at Southwest Memorial Hospital, said spokesperson Anna Wesling.

Lane said the deputies had been dispatched to the shooting scene after a passer-by reported an officer shot and called 911. The suspects fled after they shot Claxton.

Bishop, Martin and other officers chased the water truck to County Road G, near McElmo Canyon, and exchanged gunfire along the way, Lane said. He said the two deputies were shot while pursuing the truck.

Montezuma County Sheriff Joey Chavez said the suspects eluded their pursuers, ditched the water truck and stole a flatbed truck from Nielson’s Inc., a construction company.

Chavez said one of the men stood on the back of the flatbed and shot at officers, including Chavez, with an automatic weapon. He said the suspect hit several patrol cars.

Herald/Alex Dorgan-Ross

SLAIN CORTEZ
officer Dale Claxton’s car rests on the shoulder of County Road 27, where he was shot to death
Friday by fugitives near
Hovenweep National Monument.

Patrol Car

The three suspects eluded police and managed to avoid several roadblocks as they drove southwest on County Road G. Chavez said they crossed into Utah and back into Colorado several times before abandoning their truck near Hovenweep National Monument.

Officers were alerted to the suspects’ whereabouts after a witness spotted the flatbed truck at the canyon.

The suspects fled on foot into Cross Canyon, Ray said. He said two semi-automatic weapons were recovered from the truck by the police.

About 160 officers searched a 10-square-mile area north of Hovenweep National Monument, but the ground search was suspended at nightfall except to maintain checkpoints on seven county roads, said San Juan County, Utah, Sheriff Mike Lacy.

Authorities found only two sets of footprints, Lacy said.

Ray did not know if the men were still armed.

Searchers were in full-armor suits and hunted the area with dogs.

"It’s very remote canyon country," Ray said.

Ray said there are several dirt roads in Cross Canyon, and it was possible the suspects could escape the canyon a number of ways. Hovenweep encompasses more than 750 acres of steep canyons decorated with pinion and juniper trees on slickrock. Cross Canyon, which is not inside Hovenweep, is 10 miles long and two miles wide.

FBI agents assisted with night-time search equipment.

Late Friday night, authorities intensified their search on the Utah side of Cross Canyon, about 28 miles southeast of Monticello.

Durango Police Lt. Dale Smith said his department deployed a 12- member SWAT team to assist in the manhunt. The department also sent two people from its debriefing team.

The La Plata County Sheriff’s Department also sent officers. Officials declined to provide details.

The water truck was allegedly stolen near Ignacio. The truck belonged to Overwright Trucking, a company based in Farmington. An Overwright owner said the truck was stolen around 12 p.m. Thursday.

Claxton was an officer with the Cortez Police Department for three years. He was a lifelong Cortez resident. He was married and had four children, including two from a previous marriage.

"He was a fine officer," said Lane. "Everybody here is appalled. It’s kind of a family atmosphere here at the station. We’re in shock."

(This story was written by Amy Maestas in Durango, with contributions from Joshua Moore in Montezuma County and David Staats and Missy Votel in Durango. The Associated Press also contributed.)

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