SWAT team members used tear gas to arrest a suspect in a Fort Collins apartment this morning in connection with a Greeley murder, police say.
John Paul Romero, 25, of Fort Collins, was arrested early this morning in an apartment at 2250 W. Elizabeth St. The robbery and homicide happened Jan. 5, said Fort Collins police spokeswoman Rita Davis.
Romero allegedly shot Luis Saben Rocha, 52, during a home invasion robbery in an apartment at 2501 Ash Ave. at 8 p.m., Greeley police Sgt. Joe Tymkowych said.
Three alleged accomplices, Mauricio Puente-Hernandez, 27, Adrian Gomez, 25, and a juvenile were all arrested within a few days of the attempted drug and cash rip-off. Rocha did not have any drugs or money in his apartment, Tymkowych said.
Greeley police received a lead about where Romero was staying and contacted Fort Collins police for help, Davis said.
Fort Collins SWAT team members and Greeley police surrounded the apartment at 4 a.m. Police called neighbors in the apartment complex to warn them about the arrest. They called the suspect’s apartment and a roommate denied he was there and refused to leave the apartment, Davis said.
Officers used a loud “noise” device to get them to leave the apartment and then tear gas. When the gas was used, Romero called police to surrender, Davis said.
He is being held at the Larimer County Detention Center, she said.
The roommates, Anthony George Dibentto, 22, and Marcella Rodriguez, 24, were arrested for investigation of being an accessory to a crime and for refusing to leave the apartment.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
