The Moffat County Sheriff’s Office arrested a man Friday for allegedly stealing a vehicle and distributing fentanyl following a multiple-agency search and shelter-in-place alert, according to a news release.

Valentin Velez, 43, was arrested around 8:30 p.m. Friday and charged with distribution of fentanyl, second-degree burglary, second and third-degree motor vehicle theft, among other charges, according to an arrest affidavit.

Velez is also charged as a special offender, a Class 1 drug felony, which can increase his sentence if he is found guilty in court. 

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According to the affidavit, the Moffat County Sheriff’s Office received a call from dispatch about a burglary at around 10:30 a.m. Friday.

The reporting party stated they saw an “unknown” man driving their 2005 blue Dodge pickup truck away from their property, according to the affidavit. It was later reported that the barn on the property was also burglarized, and eight rifles were missing.

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According to the affidavit, the total value of the rifles was about $2,500, and the value of the truck was about $5,000.

A Moffat County Sheriff’s deputy discovered one of the windows in the barn had been broken in an area where the truck and rifles were kept.

The affidavit states that another deputy spotted the vehicle and pursued it, but lost track of the driver around Moffat County Road 7.

A “vigilant citizen” later saw the vehicle drive up Cedar Mountain Road, according to a news release issued by the Moffat County Sheriff’s Office. 

According to the affidavit, officers found the abandoned truck with the eight rifles in its bed.

According to the news release, the Craig Police Department, Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the Bureau of Land Management Law Enforcement assisted the sheriff’s office in establishing an “incident command post” at the scene. A shelter-in-place alert was then issued for the surrounding area.

The Moffat County Combined Special Response Team also established a perimeter and “canvased the area with air drones and personnel,” looking for the driver, states the affidavit.

Later that evening, a Moffat County Sheriff’s deputy saw a “suspicious” man walking south on C.R. 7, near the Craig Shooting Range. 

According to the affidavit, when a deputy approached the man, he “put his thumb up in the air and waved it in a manner to solicit a ride,” not knowing the approaching vehicle was law enforcement. 

The affidavit states that the man’s behavior became “extremely concerning” when he realized he was speaking to law enforcement, noting that he was “looking all around.”

According to the affidavit, the man then began to run away from the deputy, heading east onto a property on C.R. 7.

The deputy attempted to stop the man with “three cartridges” from his taser, but the attempts were “ineffective,” states the affidavit. 

The man continued up the driveway of the property off of C.R. 7. According to the affidavit, the man ran behind a shed and into the backyard of the property, where he “fell over a fence” and started “rolling around as if he was looking for something.”

The sheriff’s deputy gave the man “multiple” commands to show his hands and to lie down, but he did not comply, states the affidavit. 

According to the affidavit, a Craig police officer then tased the man, and he “fell to the ground” and was taken into custody.

The sheriff’s deputy then found a Ruger P95 9mm with a “loaded magazine and a round chambered” near where the man fell, states the affidavit.

The affidavit also states the man had a “brown colored purse around him” containing 126 blue M30 counterfeit oxycodone pills, 7.76 grams of a “white powdery substance” that later tested positive as fentanyl, a small scale and “multiple” small plastic bags.

According to the affidavit, the man requested a lawyer after he was read his Miranda rights, then was taken to the hospital for evaluation.

Deputies responded to a call about a woman who was walking on Moffat County Road 3 without shoes on Wednesday. The individual later stated that she rode with two men in a truck from Farmington, New Mexico, according to the affidavit.

The woman also told law enforcement that she had been assaulted by the two men, one of whom was named “Derek.”

The affidavit states the woman noted that she “did not know how they ended up arriving in Colorado,” but remembered running out of gas and then walking. 

According to the affidavit, law enforcement determined the truck the woman rode in had been stolen from a property in Arizona and was involved in a pursuit in Las Vegas.

Deputies showed the woman photos of the man involved in the incident on Friday, and she identified him as “Derek.”

A deputy with the Routt County Sheriff’s Office later brought a digital fingerprint reader to the hospital, where the suspect was being evaluated, and identified him as Velez.

According to the affidavit, Velez has an “extensive” criminal history, with “multiple” convictions that prevent him from owning a weapon.

The affidavit states that Velez has two felony convictions involving willful injury and third-degree kidnapping in Iowa. Velez has also been convicted of distribution of controlled substances, theft and “much more.”

Velez currently has pending cases in “multiple” states involving charges of violation of a protection order, possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person and receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle, the affidavit adds.

Velez also has “multiple” protection orders in Nebraska preventing him from possessing a firearm, according to the affidavit. 

“We extend our sincere gratitude to the community members who provided critical information that aided in resolving this case,” the news release issued by the Moffat County Sheriff’s Office stated. “Your vigilance and cooperation are invaluable in keeping Moffat County safe. We are honored to serve a community with members who look out for each other.”

According to documents provided by the Moffat County Combined Court clerk’s office, Velez is currently in custody in the Moffat County Jail, and his bond is set at $75,000.

Velez’s next court appearance is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Thursday.