Police arrested a man wanted on a dozen warrants Friday morning after a slow-speed chase that went along Main Street and up to County Road Y.
About 10:30 a.m., police pulled over 41-year-old Kevin Ritter on Hawkins Street near the Hampton Inn for a traffic infraction. According to Cortez Police Department public information officer Lt. Andy Brock, Ritter gave a false name and told the male passenger of his motorhome to leave the vehicle.
Police, sensing that Ritter might flee, set up spikes a short distance away. Officers soon learned Ritter’s real name and that he had multiple warrants for his arrest.
Ritter then allegedly sped away and ran over the spikes, blowing out a rear tire. Officers followed Ritter in a slow-speed pursuit as he drove west along Main Street and then north along U.S. Highway 491 until he turned onto County Road Y.
Ritter’s RV got stuck in mud near the intersection of County Road Y and County Road 16, where police apprehended him without issues.
A small amount of drugs and no weapons were found in the RV. Nobody was injured during the pursuit or the arrest.
According to Montezuma County Sheriff Steve Nowlin, police booked Ritter on charges of unlawful possession of a controlled substance, vehicular eluding in a reckless manner, criminal impersonation, violation of a protection order, resisting arrest, obstructing a peace officer, reckless endangerment, driving a motor vehicle when license denied, reckless driving, driving without insurance and failing to signal.
According to Nowlin, Ritter claims to be from Denver.
Ritter had 11 warrants out for his arrest from Jefferson County and two others from Denver County. Warrants had been issued for offenses that included, but were not limited to, possession of an illegal weapon, child abuse, third-degree assault, first-degree aggravated motor vehicle theft and unlawful possession of a controlled substance.
Officers from the Colorado State Patrol, Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office and Bureau of Land Management assisted Cortez police officers in the case.
anicotera@the-journal.com