An alleged intruder was shot early this morning by a Bow Mar homeowner and the wounded man fled leaving a trail of blood for police to follow.
Police found Aaron Joseph Vigil, 37, in the backyard of a nearby home. He was taken to Swedish Medical Center and treated for a gunshot wound to the arm.
Vigil was arrested on suspicion of attempted burglary and attempted criminal trespass. After his release from Swedish, he was being held at the Araphoe County Jail.
The incident happened on the 5200 block of Bow Mar Drive shortly after midnight. A window pane on the front door of the home was broken and boarded with plywood this afternoon.
Vigil, who was shot by the homeowner with a small-caliber handgun, left a trail of blood around a neighbor’s home, where he also apparently tried to break in.
“I slept through the whole thing,” said neighbor Joe Miklich.
Blood was splattered on Miklich’s back patio and on a glass storm door off the patio. Miklich also found blood on a seperate bedroom patio and a door leading into the bedroom.
“He never rang the doorbell,” Miklich said.
But police did ring Miklich’s bell at about 1:15 a.m. to tell him about the incident and to check on his welfare.
“It’s a little scary,” said Miklich, who has lived in Bow Mar for more than 20 years, and said nothing like this morning’s incident has happened there before.
Bow Mar is a neighborhood in unincorporated Arapahoe County, near Marston Lake and Bowles Lake.
“It’s so remote, so unusual, I don’t think I can make a big deal of it,” he said.
Vigil has been arrested twice in Denver for dangerous drugs, according to Colorado Bureau of Investigation records.
Police found Vigil’s Jeep in the area and impounded it. He was being held on $6,000 bail.
Police did not give a motive or reason as to why Vigil tried to force his way into the home.
Staff writer Kieran Nicholson can be reached at 303-820-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
