Wheat Ridge — A suspected gang member wanted in connection with a string of armed robberies surrendered early today after two lengthy stakeouts.
Manuelito Santistevan, 26, was driven by his bondsman to a Safeway parking lot at West 38th Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard shortly after midnight. He was taken into custody by FBI and area police and taken to the Wheat Ridge Police Department.
Santistevan was wearing no shirt and his nephew’s shorts, reportedly to show that he was going into custody without bruises.
“I’m scared, Mom!’ he yelled to his mother, Ruby.
His 15-year-old nephew, Cameron Barker, who was with his uncle prior to his arrest, said he had switched pants with his uncle before the dropoff.
“My uncle’s not that way,” he said. “He’s not the way they say he is.”
The surrender came about three hours into the second vigil of the day by law enforcement, media and his mother. Authorities had also been told by Ruby Santistevan that he was turning himself in early that morning. But he never showed.
Mrs. Santistevan had told police and reporters that her son planned to come in peacefully. She asked the media to be on hand for fear authorities would shoot him.
“I just don’t want him to get hurt,” she said during the wait. “He’s not armed, and he’s not dangerous. ”
Early during the evening stakeout, police apprehended a woman believed to be Santistevan’s girlfriend, who was wanted for questioning.
Officers handcuffed a weeping Tiffany Bryan, who was driven into the parking lot about 10 p.m.
Santistevan is wanted for his alleged involvement in a gang called the “Hooded Safe Bandits” and for an incident on Aug. 22 when an undercover Denver Police officer was doing surveillance of Santistevan as he and a female passenger were driving in an SUV.
The police surveillance turned into a chase. Edith Mack, a tutor in English as a second language at Molholm Elementary School, suffered a broken hip when the unmarked Dodge pickup struck and flipped her car in Lakewood.
The Denver Police Department is investigating whether Denver police Detective Clement Bourgeois, who wasn’t injured, violated pursuit policy.
It says officers may initiate a chase only when a suspect poses an immediate threat to public safety or when the suspect has committed a felony with a deadly weapon.
The “Hooded Safe Bandits” got their name because they enter businesses wearing hoods and masks, point guns at employees and order them to open the safe.
The gang has hit businesses including restaurants, stores and coffee shops. The ring is believed responsible for at least 23 stickups in the metro area.
Staff writer Manny Gonzales can be reached at 303-954-1537 or at mgonzales@denverpost.com.
