After hours of negotiation, police arrested a bank robbery suspect who ran inside a nearby hotel after exchanging gunfire with officers, according to the City of Greenwood Village.
The suspect "peacefully surrendered," the city said on Twitter just after 6 p.m. Dec. 1.
Authorities evacuated the guests at the Extended Stay America and Sleep Inn hotels, Greenwood Village said on Twitter at about 2 p.m. that day.
Police asked the public to avoid the area of Clinton Street and Costilla Avenue, a couple blocks south of Arapahoe Road and east of Interstate 25.
“Multiple agencies,” including the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office, were assisting Greenwood Village police with the incident, the city said on Twitter.
At least roughly two dozen personnel who appeared to be involved with law enforcement stood on scene, according to a photo the sheriff’s office tweeted at 12:45 p.m. on Dec. 1. SWAT personnel were at the scene, the sheriff’s office tweeted.
Greenwood Village police had responded at about 10:45 a.m. on Dec. 1 to the Key Bank on Arapahoe Road just east of I-25 in response to an alleged bank robbery, according to a news release from Greenwood Village police.
As he fled from an officer, the suspect allegedly fired his handgun in the direction of the officer, who then returned fire, the news release says. The suspect continued to run through a nearby parking lot and again fired at the officer, who again returned fire, according to the release.
The suspect entered the Extended Stay America hotel, and officers surrounded the hotel, according to police.
It was initially unclear whether the suspect was hit by gunfire from officers, David Oliver, Greenwood Village deputy police chief, said by phone at about 2 p.m. Dec. 1.
Police later confirmed in the news release that there were no injuries to any of the officers, the suspect or the bystanders involved.
Initially, authorities issued a "reverse 911" phone call to hotel guests asking them to shelter in place, according to the news release, but the guests were later evacuated.
Witnesses at the hotel assisted officers in identifying a suspect who was a hotel guest, and officers isolated him to his hotel room and made contact with him just before 4 p.m., the release said. Negotiations continued for about two hours before the suspect surrendered, the release said.
Police identified the suspect as 29-year-old Jonathan Martin Bell.
The hotel the suspect ran into sits in Greenwood Village, west of Clinton Street and north of Costilla Avenue, according to Oliver. The location is just outside of central Centennial.
Police don’t believe there is danger to the surrounding hotels or community regarding the incident, Oliver said at the time.
