AURORA, Colo.—Authorities say they have arrested a man after a routine traffic stop in the east Denver suburb of Aurora and are investigating him for possible methamphetamine and firearms violations.
Aurora Police Detective Marcus Dudley said Monday that 28-year-old Tharin Robert Gartrell was arrested early Sunday. FBI spokeswoman Kathy Wright says Gartrell is under investigation on drug and weapons charges.
Two other people were arrested in the case, Aurora police said in a statement. They didn’t immediately release more details.
U.S. Attorney Troy Eid said in a statement that federal charges were anticipated. Eid did not elaborate, but officials with the FBI, Secret Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Aurora police set a news conference for 4 p.m. MT Tuesday.
Wright says the FBI is investigating reports in some Denver media that Gartrell may have made threats against Barack Obama, who will be in Denver this week to accept the Democratic nomination for president.
She declined to elaborate. The Joint Information Center, a command set up by Denver, state and federal authorities to field media inquiries during the Democratic convention, said it had no immediate comment.
“It’s premature to say that it was a valid threat or that these folks have the ability to carry it out,” said a U.S. government official familiar with the investigation. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
Law enforcement in Denver is in the process of finding out if the reported threats to Obama were valid. “It could also turn out that these were nothing but a bunch of knuckleheads, meth heads,” the official said.
Gartrell was being held at the Arapahoe County jail on $50,000 bail on a felony charge of special offender, drug violations. He was due in court Thursday.
