The Colorado State Patrol and Alamosa police arrested a man, who claims to be the founder of the militia Operation Patriot Rally Point, on warrants from Texas for probation violation on a theft charge.
Costilla County Sheriff’s Sgt. Rick Rodriguez said Rodger Marsh, 48, may have come to the San Luis Valley, where controversy has risen over the county’s decision to toughen land use codes, to recruit followers.
The county recently eliminated a rule that allowed people to live in campers for at least three months and resulted in many of them staying in the mobile homes for longer than that.
The controversy, which has resulted in some land owners being ordered off their land, drew media attention.
Some members of the off-grid community gave the sheriff’s office information about Marsh, and “we just did an investigation into his background,” Rodriguez said. “He’d seen an opportunity.”
The sheriff’s office provided information to the state patrol, he said.
Marsh is also known as Colt Severs.
He was arrested without incident in Alamosa.
“Two children, ages 5 and 6, who were in the hotel with Marsh were released to the Alamosa Department of Human Services,” according to a CSP release.
He is being held in the Alamosa County Jail until he is extradited to Texas on the warrant, according to the Colorado State Patrol.
Marsh is also wanted for child neglect in Franklin, Ind., and DUI in Cassia County, Idaho.
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671, tmcghee@denverpost.com or @dpmcghee
