(FOUNTAIN, Colo.) — The Fountain Police Department (FPD) said a 34-year-old man was arrested after he barricaded himself inside a garage in Fountain on Monday, Jan. 3, following an early morning armed robbery.

A Peak Alert was sent out to neighbors near the 100 block of Fordham Street in Fountain just before 5 a.m. on Monday, instructing people to stay indoors and away from doors and windows. The shelter-in-place alert was in effect until just before 7 a.m., when FPD said they had resolved the situation.

According to a press release sent out on Tuesday, Jan. 31, FPD arrested 34-year-old Nathan Rowell after he barricaded himself inside a garage in a neighborhood on Fordham Street following an armed robbery at the Circle K on South Highway 85 early Monday morning.

FPD said officers responded to the Circle K around 3:40 a.m. on a report of an armed robbery. Before officers arrived, FPD said Rowell left on foot and headed east toward a neighborhood in Security-Widefield.

Officers were able to determine that Rowell had broken into a detached garage on Fordham Street, and barricaded himself inside. FPD called for the assistance of the El Paso County Tactical Group, since the address was in unincorporated El Paso County. After setting up a perimeter, Rowell tried to run from the area but was caught and taken into custody.

Nathan Rowell mugshot
Courtesy: Fountain Police Department

FPD said evidence was recovered from the scene that linked Rowell to the armed robbery at Circle K, and further investigation revealed that Rowell was responsible for three other burglaries in November and December of 2022, at other locations along South Highway 85.

FPD said Rowell is currently a parolee with the Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC) and since 2011, has had eight prior felony convictions in which he was sentenced to the CDOC with a combined total of 41 years. Most of those charges ran concurrently, FPD said.

After being taken into custody on Monday, Rowell was booked into the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center on charges of Aggravated Robbery, Second Degree Burglary, Menacing, Theft, and Criminal Mischief related to the Circle K robbery.