A nationally wanted fugitive, Kyle Engen, was apprehended in Granby last Thursday evening, April 21, following an operation conducted by the Middle Park Emergency Response Team (MPERT) and several Marshals with the US Marshals Service.

The incident occurred around 5 p.m. Thursday evening at the corner of Topaz Ave. and Mesa Street in Granby, directly north of the Granby Elementary School and right outside a house in which Engen, 30, rented a room.

Agents from the US Marshals service previously suspected Engen was living in Granby and were recently able to confirm his residency in the community, prompting the action. The operation to take Engen into custody Thursday was conducted by the MPERT, a multi-agency entity that functions in a role more commonly associated with the term SWAT team.

After identifying Engen officials concluded the use of the MPERT was the appropriate course of action to take the suspect into custody. Law enforcement had information that Engen was armed and based on the possibility that he may have potentially been able to access firearms inside the residence in which lived authorities determined Engen should be apprehended outside the dwelling.

After monitoring Engen for a time authorities determined he regularly left the residence to smoke cigarettes inside a vehicle located on the property. Members of the MPERT then developed and plan and took the suspect into custody. No one was injured during the arrest.

Engen was wanted on a no-bond probation violation warrant from the Wisconsin Dept. of Corrections and is also considered a suspect in a homicide case in Wisconsin.

Authorities intentionally waited until the early evening hours Thursday to conduct the operation to allow Granby Elementary School to be empty of students. Initial reports from Granby residents indicated they heard an explosion at the time of the incident that authorities later confirmed was produced by a flash-bang grenade that was deployed by the MPERT.

Granby Police Chief Bill Housley discussed some of the difficulties local police encountered while determining a best course of action for bringing Engen into custody. “We were observing the location for an extended period of time,” Housley said. “It was a fairly complex plan. We did not want to do anything while school was still in progress. We were hoping to get him while he was outside and isolated somewhere. Fortunately we were able to wait and then move in and make the apprehension. It went quickly and no one was injured.”

Chief Housley explained that intermittently wanted individuals will head to regions they feel are relatively remote, like the high Rockies, in an apparent effort to hide themselves from authorities. Housley also intimated that several members of the community have expressed thanks for how the operation was handled. “I think all officers involved did their jobs very professionally by taking the individual into custody without incident, which could have been volatile,” he said.

After being taken into custody Engen was transported to the Grand County Jail to away extradition proceeding through the State of Wisconsin.

The Middle Park Emergency Response Team is made up of officers and deputies from the Granby Police Dept., the Grand County Sheriff’s Office, the Fraser/Winter Park Police Dept. and the Kremmling Police Dept. Personnel from Grand County EMS serve as medics for the team.