ADAMS COUNTY, Colo.
A suspect who police believe shot and killed another man with a 12-gauge shotgun outside a strip club was arrested early Thursday following a brief chase.
John Paul Valdez, 25, was at the Saturday Night Live Gentleman's club on North Federal Boulevard, near West 80th Avenue when he and another man started arguing. At closing time, around 1:35 a.m., they both walked to their parking lot.
Valdez walked to his car, opened his trunk and grabbed a 12-gauge shotgun. Police say Valdez pointed the gun at the other man, identified as Javier Ruacho-Benitez, fired a shot at him and killed him.
A patrol shift supervisor for Adams County Sheriff's Office was traveling on Federal Boulevard near the topless bar when he heard a gunshot. He quickly drove to the club and witnesses told him that the suspect just left the parking lot.
The supervisor spotted the fleeing vehicle and pursued it until it crashed, the sheriff's office said. The driver ran and officers set up a perimeter with several deputies and a K-9.
The K-9 soon found Valdez hiding near a home.
Valdez was taken into custody and transported to the hospital for a dog bite.
Several witnesses were interviewed at the scene of the homicide and at the Adams County Sheriff?s Office substation in Commerce City.
"Detectives are confident that through their investigation and with the information received from witnesses that the suspect taken into custody was the shooter at Saturday Night Live," the sheriff's office said.
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