Deputies, cop shot working on theft task force
The shootout that killed an El Paso County sheriff’s deputy Monday afternoon occurred as law officers worked on a regional task force cracking down on auto theft.
Sheriff’s Deputy Micah Flick was slain and Sgt. Jacob Abendschan, Deputy Scott Stone and Colorado Springs Police Detective Marcus Yanez and a civilian were shot when an auto-theft investigation turned into a gun battle, El Paso County Sheriff Bill Elder said.
Television stations in Colorado Springs reported Tuesday that bystander Thomas Villaneuva, who was walking nearby, was shot through the chest.
The TV reports said he was being treated at a hospital and was expected to live.
Deputies and police went to the Murray Hill Apartments in east Colorado Springs just before 4 p.m. to arrest Manuel Zetina, 19, a suspected auto thief, Elder told county officials Tuesday morning.
“They engaged a suspect of auto theft at the Murray Hill Apartments,” Elder said. “A brief scuffle ensued, followed by a shootout with the suspect, who was killed on scene.”
The task force is called BATTLE, for Beat Auto Theft Through Law Enforcement, and consists of sheriff’s deputies, city police and Colorado State Patrol officers.
Abendschan, a detective, is a regional coordinator for the BATTLE group, which shares a $1.4 million federal grant to target “prolific” car thieves.
Faced with a 23 percent increase in auto thefts from 2015 to 2016, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office sought more than 1,400 hours of overtime pay for deputies this year through the grant, up from about 200 hours in 2017.