Police Find 'Texas 7' Escape Van
Colorado State Trooper Dies Responding to Reported Sighting
The van was found in the parking lot of a four-story Quality Inn motel along Interstate 25.
"This is, in fact, the van we've been looking for," police spokesman Skip Arms said. "We're checking in local hotels attempting to locate the two fugitives."
Wilma David, who works in a restaurant near the motel, told a local Colorado station that she and her co-workers spotted the van in the parking lot. They peeked inside and saw duffel bags, maps and hair dye. The restaurant manager called police.
"I thought to myself, that looks like the one they've been describing on television," she said. "We looked at it and the color was right."
Arms said that the van could have been in the lot since Monday night, but officers believe it arrived early Tuesday.
Colorado Springs police and federal agents are searching the motel and surrounding area.
Authorities on Tuesday combed a Rocky Mountain hideout where four Texas convicts were caught, and they searched for clues to the whereabouts of two other inmates who escaped from a prison nearly six weeks ago.
A fifth inmate killed himself Monday inside a motor home that had been surrounded by authorities in this foothills community about 50 miles southwest of Denver.
During a Tuesday morning news conference, Texas Board of Criminal Justice chairman Mac Stringfellow said authorities have a trail and leads that they can follow up to apprehend the two remaining fugitives.
"We are not that far behind them. They only have a few hours' head start on us," Stringfellow said. "So we're in a much better position of catching the remaining two than we were five weeks ago when all seven were out."
Stringfellow said that since Dec. 13, authorities have received more than 2,500 leads, including one that led to Monday's captures in Colorado.
A Colorado state trooper died Tuesday morning as he was responding to a reported sighting along Interstate 70 near the Continental Divide. Initial reports said the trooper was involved in an accident. The trooper, as yet unidentified, had been on the job for only a year.
The I-70 sighting was one of many reported to Colorado authorities since Monday afternoon. At one point Tuesday morning, police in Aurora, Colo., surrounded a hotel after receiving a report of another sighting. It turned out to be invalid.
"The story is by no means over," said Mark Mershon, the top FBI official in Colorado. "We have two suspects that are still on the loose."
Mershon said that the vehicle is believed to be a conversion van, late '70s or early '80s, with as many as three colors. The primary color of the van is brown or maroon, he said.
The van also has five tinted side windows with blinds, no ladder on the back, standard heavy-duty rims and blackwall tires, according to Mershon.
The Denver Police Department said that the van is loaded with weapons. Convicts Patrick Murphy and Donald Newbury are still unaccounted for.
Teller County Undersheriff Kevin Dougherty said that three of the four men were arrested as they pulled up for gasoline at a convenience store near Woodland Park.
"They were surrounded immediately by the police," Hossein Taraghi, a Western Convenience Stores executive, said.
The fourth man was arrested as he left a trailer in a combination motel and mobile home park, the Coachlight Motel and R.V. Park.
Dougherty said that authorities were told about the fugitives by the manager of the Coachlight.
The Colorado Scene
The convicts had been in the area since about Jan. 1, Teller County Sheriff Frank Fehn said. They had kept a low profile in the sparsely populated area, according to Fehn.
Authorities fired tear gas in the area of the RV. Inside the RV, officers found a suicide note, $10,000 in cash and about 35 firearms, including 13 or 14 weapons missing from the Texas prison, authorities said.
The firearms were "loaded, cocked and ready for action, as we say," Mershon said.
Thousands of rounds of ammunition, wireless communication devices and receipts for bulletproof vests purchased in Denver and Aurora also were found, he said.
Larry Harper, who was inside the RV, asked to speak to his father, and authorities arranged for him to do so by cell phone, Fehn said. But he had already killed himself by the time arrangements were made.
Teller County sheriff's officers had been watching the RV since Sunday, and said they knew that five of the fugitives were inside.
Authorities believe that all seven escaped convicts had been living in the motor home for up to three weeks.
"They were so overwhelmed," SWAT team commander Terry Maketa said. "They couldn't do anything."
Three of the men had handguns and Maketa braced for the worst while aiming his own pistol at one of the men.
"I thought at one point he was contemplating getting into a gunfight," he said.
Rivas, Rodriguez and Garcia did not resist or draw their weapons, authorities said.
Halprin walked out of the home, unaware of the presence of police. When Halprin realized he was surrounded, he ran to a nearby trailer, then emerged and surrendered, El Paso County Sheriff John Wesley Anderson said.
Authorities said that Halprin had an old wound he may have suffered during the Christmas Eve robbery.
The Extradition
Leon Guinn of the Texas Department of Corrections said that the captured escapees will be arraigned in federal court. Once a federal judge releases them, they will be extradited to Texas, but the process could take a couple of days.
"We are starting extradition proceedings to bring the suspects back to Texas," Tull said. "We are talking with the escapees."
Prison officials in Texas said that the alleged ringleader of the group, George Rivas, is among those who have been taken into custody. Investigators have portrayed Rivas, 30, as fearless and shrewd, with a powerful hold over the others.
Rivas told authorities after his capture that he "had a change of heart, change of life and that he wanted this to end."
Rivas also allegedly told police that he was responsible for the murder of Irving police Officer Aubrey Hawkins.
Authorities said that Rivas dyed his hair blond to avoid being recognized. Another inmate died his hair orange.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice said that Michael Rodriguez and Joseph Garcia were among the others in custody.
The Escape
The seven inmates, including two convicted murderers, escaped from a South Texas prison Dec. 13 after overpowering seven civilian employees at the Connally Unit in Kenedy, Texas.
A guard and seven workers were treated for minor injuries following the escape.
Garcia, 29, was serving 50 years for murder and Rodriguez, 38, was serving a life sentence for capital murder.
Prison spokesman Larry Todd said that the inmates stole a Department of Criminal Justice pickup, a shotgun and some pistols as they fled the unit near Kenedy.
The breakout was the biggest escape from a Texas state prison in modern history. Texas had recaptured all but one of the 143 inmates who escaped from its state prisons in the past 10 years. Most were inmates who walked away from work duty or escaped alone or in small groups.
The inmates are wanted in two robberies and the slaying of Irving, Texas, police officer Aubrey Hawkins.
The escapees are accused of killing Hawkins and taking more weapons during a Christmas Eve robbery of an Oshman's Supersports USA in Irving, a Dallas suburb. All seven fugitives could face capital murder charges in the slaying.
The robbers escaped with $70,000 in cash and checks, numerous
weapons and clothing. They were believed to have stolen more guns
from the sporting goods store.
Fears that the heavily armed gang was planning a showdown prompted police departments across the region to carry extra firepower and take additional precautions.
The FBI drew psychological profiles of the seven, and investigators believe that the ringleader is Rivas, 30, who was serving a life sentence for aggravated robbery and kidnapping.
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