Four persons, two juveniles and two adults, were arrested early Christmas morning after a standoff with deputies who used tear gas to flush them out of a cabin they had broken into two days earlier.  The four, all from the Tucson area, were booked on a variety of felony and misdemeanor charges. 

At about 5:30pm Christmas Eve, State Patrol Trooper Kris Galyean noticed a car parked off US Hwy 285 near County Road 200, Marshal Pass Road.  Trooper Galvean learned the car had been reported stolen from Tucson and was associated with a 16-year-old female runaway.  Assisted by Deputy Nick Tolsma, the trooper followed footprints in the snow that led to a nearby cabin.  From a vantage point outside, the officers could see four people inside the cabin.  They also saw two firearms, believed to be shotguns.

The cabin owner, finally located as he was travelling aboard an Amtrak train out of state, confirmed no one was authorized to be in his cabin and said he had no knowledge who the four persons might be.  With that confirmation, additional officers were brought in, including tactical team members from the Chaffee County and Lake County Sheriff’s Offices and the Leadville Police Department, who have recently trained together and are in the initial stages of creating a regional tactical response team.

At about 1:15am, with a perimeter silently established around the cabin and with emergency medical and firefighting personnel staged nearby, a deputy using a bullhorn announced the officers’ presence and instructed the cabin’s occupants to come out with their hands visible.  After receiving no response following several announcements, tear gas canisters were fired into the cabin.  Shortly afterwards, all four persons emerged and were taken into custody without further incident.

The two adults arrested and jailed were identified as William Tyler Cole, age 19; and Sean Brannon Meadows, age 18.  Both are being held on charges of burglary, theft, and criminal mischief and other charges may be brought later.  The two juveniles, a 16-year-old female and a 17-year-old male, were transported to a juvenile holding facility in Colorado Springs pending the filing of formal charges.      

Participating agencies were Chaffee and Lake County Sheriff’s Offices, Colorado State Patrol, Leadville Police Department, Chaffee County EMS, and Chaffee Fire.