A man suspected of fatally shooting a Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office K-9 during a lockdown of the Colorado School of Mines campus faces five felonies in connection to the incident.
Eduardo Armando Romero, 29, is charged with aggravated cruelty to an animal, identity theft, menacing, vehicular eluding, and first-degree aggravated motor vehicle theft, according to the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office.
In the early morning hours of Feb. 13 officers with Golden and CSM police found Romero slumped over the steering wheel of a Jeep near 18th and Elm streets, according to an arrest affidavit. When contacted, Romero drove off at a slow speed and was driving all over the road.
Officers attempted to box the Jeep in, to bring it to a stop, and Romero allegedly rammed and pushed one of the patrol vehicles, which had overhead lights and sirens on, the affidavit said. When the Jeep was stopped, Romero ran from the scene. A perimeter was set up, K9 Graffit was released and ran into brush, where the dog was shot. Two shots were fired by a Jefferson County Deputy after the initial shot was fired.
Graffit died at the scene and Romero surrendered to authorities and was arrested just before 5 a.m., according to authorities. A preliminary hearing is scheduled on March 17.
Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day.
