Police raising money for Claxton family
Copyright © 1998 The Durango Herald. All rights reserved.
July 25, 1998

By Joshua Moore
Herald Staff Writer

The Fraternal Order of Police Colorado State Lodge began a phone solicitation Thursday to raise money for the family of slain Cortez police officer Dale Claxton, according to a statement issued by Durango police Sgt. Anthony Archuleta, president of the Durango FOP Lodge.

Claxton’s death left his widow, Sue, with about $86,000 in debts and two children to raise at home and two children away from home, Archuleta said.

Claxton was killed May 29 after stopping a stolen water truck in Cortez. Two of the men suspected in the shooting, Alan “Monte” Pilon, 30, of Dove Creek, and Jason Wayne McVean, 26, of Durango, remain at large. A third suspect, Robert Mason, 26, of Durango, was found dead June 4 after wounding a sheriff’s deputy near Bluff, Utah.

The Colorado State FOP Lodge will be conducting the phone solicitation from its office in Denver, according to Archuleta. All the money raised will go toward helping Sue Claxton and her children, he said.

Any donations to the “Dale Claxton Family Relief Fund” can be sent directly to the Centennial Savings Bank at 1101 East Second Ave. in Durango or 243 East Main in Cortez, Archuleta said. Questions should be directed to Archuleta at 385-2915.

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