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07
Jan 2010
Suspects in deputy slaying nabbed, asleep in Beaver County shed

A 37-hour manhunt through several counties ended swiftly and peacefully Wednesday morning when a tip led Beaver County deputies to two men wanted in the death of a Millard County sheriff's deputy.

Roberto Miramontes Roman and Ruben Chavez Reyes were sleeping in a shed in northern Beaver about 8:15 a.m. when SWAT officers rushed in and arrested the pair.

"I believe in the element of surprise," said Beaver County Sheriff Cameron Noel. "We're happy they're in custody and no one was hurt."

Roman, 37, is suspected of fatally shooting Millard County sheriff's Deputy Josie Fox after she stopped his vehicle at 1 a.m. Tuesday on U.S. Highway 50 in Delta.

Roman has been charged with capital murder and tampering with evidence and could face the death penalty if convicted. He was taken to the Millard County jail in anticipation of an arraignment today in Fillmore's 4th District Court.

Noel said a homeowner called at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday from a mobile home park in northern Beaver saying there were two men sleeping in his shed. Ten deputies, some trained as SWAT officers, entered the shed and quickly handcuffed the pair.

Gertha Streeter, who lives near the shed in the mobile home park, said she went out to start her car to take her children to school when she noticed not all was right.

"There were police everywhere and one of them told me to get back in my house," said Streeter.

She said during the ordeal, her boyfriend looked out the window and saw the police with shotguns and what looked like automatic weapons moving around outside.

"I was terrified," said Streeter. "I have little kids."

Noel said it is unknown how the men arrived in Beaver, as no vehicles linked to them have been found.

Millard County Sheriff Robert Dekker said Chavez Reyes would be interviewed but did not know if any charges would be sought against him. He said police are looking for others who may have aided Roman.

Chavez Reyes, 36, was in custody on an immigration hold, according to Lindsay Mitchell, public information officer for the Millard County Sheriff's Office. Both men are Mexican nationals.

The Utah County Sheriff's Office, which is leading the investigation for Millard County, checked the shed for evidence, but Noel did not know if any weapons or drugs were found. Federal agents were also on scene.

After four hours of interviews, Roman and Chavez Reyes were each taken in a Millard County Sheriff's Office patrol car from Beaver County jail to Millard County jail. They were escorted by a caravan of about a dozen police vehicles from both county departments and the Utah Highway Patrol, all with lights flashing.

If you are having trouble, download the Flash® player.Fox, a 37-year-old mother of two, was gunned down about 1 a.m. Tuesday about one mile east of Delta, shortly after she pulled over a 1995 gray Cadillac Deville driven by Roman. Sheriff's investigators say Roman shot and killed her with a bullet that entered her chest just above her protective vest.

Roman's car was one of two vehicles deputies were watching Tuesday in connection with possible thefts and break-ins in the area. The driver of the second car, according to court documents filed Tuesday, was Ryan Greathouse, Fox's brother. The documents say that during the meeting on the dirt road, Greathouse bought drugs from Roman.

The Millard County sheriff said he is not seeking criminal charges against 40-year-old Greathouse, who later gave police Roman's telephone number and said Roman had family on Salt Lake City's west side.

Hours later, Roman's cell phone was recorded by a tower on Interstate 15 in Salt Lake County. About 4 a.m., a state trooper near 1100 West and 300 South in Salt Lake City found an orange Corvette with the license plate that belonged to the Cadillac.

Three SWAT teams deployed in that neighborhood looking for Roman. Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Jeff Nigbur said the teams found Roman's uncle hiding in a shed, but no sign of Roman.

Meanwhile, police found the Cadillac abandoned outside Nephi and received information Roman might be at a nearby home.

Nephi Police Chief Mike Morgan said the woman at the home was uncooperative and a SWAT team was called. The woman eventually left the house and police questioned her, Morgan said. After she consented to a search, police found no one inside the house.

Dekker said police had not had a run-in with Roman since 2005.

Immigration officials said Wednesday that both Roman and Chavez Reyes are Mexican nationals who are in the United States illegally.

According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Roman was admitted to the United States legally in 1990, but was deported in 1998 to his native country because of criminal convictions.

He was arrested twice after that for illegally re-entering the United States and prosecuted in 2005 in U.S. District Court in Arizona for that offense, according to ICE. Court records show he was sentenced to 150 days in prison.

Utah state court records show that Roman has a significant criminal history, beginning in 1992 with a misdemeanor drug distribution charge to which he pleaded guilty in Fillmore. In 1996 and 1997, Roman was charged in Millard County in two different cases with a handful of felonies, including drug charges, receiving stolen property and a weapons count.

He was sent to prison for up to 15 years after pleading guilty to one count of second-degree felony drug possession with intent to distribute and one count of third-degree felony drug possession.

In the 1996 case, an informant told police he had been selling drugs for Roman for about a year, according to a search warrant affidavit filed in 4th District Court. The informant also told police he had traded a Tech 9 mm semi-automatic pistol to Roman for drugs, and that he believed Roman kept the weapon and a cache of illegal drugs in a back bedroom of his Delta area trailer home.

On Sept. 15, 1998, Roman was released from prison into the custody of immigration authorities and deported.

Greathouse was convicted of a misdemeanor drug charge in 1994 and again in 2004, according to court documents. Tuesday's documents do not specify what drug he allegedly bought.

Bob Mims, Nate Carlisle, Stephen Hunt and Pamela Manson contributed to this report.

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