Law enforcement arrested a man Tuesday on suspicion of flashing a gun when employees confronted him about shoplifting at Home Depot, according to the Durango Police Department.

Matthew Kiesel, 30, was arrested about 45 minutes after the initial call.

“We’ve got a long history with him,” said Cmdr. Ray Shupe, spokesman with DPD.

Home Depot notified police at 10:13 a.m. that a man pulled out a sawed-off shotgun shortly after being confronted about a possible shoplifting incident at the store, Shupe said. It was later learned the gun was a sawed-off BB gun, he said.

After confronting Kiesel, employees apparently walked him out of the store to the garden area where he had stashed his bicycle and backpack, Shupe said. That is where he allegedly flashed the gun, he said.

“So that’s what got us rolling on it,” Shupe said.

It does not appear Kiesel pointed the gun at anybody.

Based on initial reports, police described Kiesel as a “robbery suspect who is reported to be armed with a sawed-off shotgun,” according to the DPD’s Facebook post.

“He didn’t point it at anybody or threaten anybody,” said Brice Current, assistant chief of police, after Kiesel’s arrest. “... We’re not going to take any chances, and we treated it as a menacing or a robbery.”

Police searched the Home Depot area, and set up a perimeter around the store. Store employees described the suspect as a skinny man with short black hair, possibly in his early 20s, with a dirty red backpack, and a black bike that appeared too small for him.

“They (employees) gave us a really good description of him and a direction of travel but didn’t know exactly where he’d gone, and so we set up a perimeter and wound up getting him inside the perimeter,” Shupe said.

Officers located Kiesel near Ska Fabrication, just west of Home Depot and near Dallabetta Park. He was taken into custody without incident at 10:55 a.m.

“We actually caught him riding his bike. So he was trying to ride his bike out of the area when we contacted him,” Shupe said.

Escalante Middle School was placed on a lockout during the incident, meaning students were taken inside and the school was closed to outside visitors. The lockout was lifted shortly after the arrest.

Police had not yet determined possible charges.

“We’re looking at possibly a menacing,” Shupe said. “We just have to look at all the facts behind everything and how it went down and whether or not it’s going to fit into the statute.”

Kiesel had three active warrants, including for felony assault, police said.

shane@durangoherald.com