The Durango Police Department arrested a man suspected of menacing a clerk with a knife Monday at the SkyRidge Market in east Durango.
The incident was reported at 1:49 p.m. in the 100 block of Jenkins Ranch Road.
Morgan Miller, the clerk, said a man walked into the store and asked him if he liked to fight. Miller said “no,” and the man pulled a knife from his pocket and started to play with it.
“He says, ‘You don’t need to worry. I don’t need a knife to fight,’” Miller said.
The man started to leave the store, but he poked his head back inside and said, “Do you have a gun to protect yourself?” and then he left, Miller said.
“He was just looking for someone to fight I guess,” Miller said. “Something wasn’t firing right. He didn’t seem drunk or high or something like that.”
Police spotted a maroon Nissan sedan matching the vehicle description near 12th Street and Camino del Rio. They followed the vehicle until enough backup officers were available to initiate a felony traffic stop, in which officers arrest someone at gunpoint.
The vehicle, a rental car, was stopped near River Road and South Camino del Rio, near Home Depot, said Cmdr. Bob Brammer, with the Durango Police Department.
Officers used de-escalation skills to calm the man and make an easy arrest without incident, Brammer said.
“They did a fantastic job,” he said.
The man, whose name, age and hometown were not immediately available, was possibly experiencing a mental health situation, Brammer said.
He was taken to the La Plata County Jail for booking and further questioning.
shane@durangoherald.com
