SECTION:news

Armed men not connected to slaying of Colorado police officer

The Associated Press

RAWLINS, Wyo. -- Authorities arrested two armed men Friday in connection with a robbery in Wyoming, but they ruled out a connection to the slaying of a Colorado police officer nearly a year ago in the Four Corners region. The men, stopped in the town of Colby in western Kansas, had matched the description of two survivalists who have eluded authorities. Hours after the men were arrested, FBI agents confirmed their identities and said they weren't the Four Corners fugitives, Alan "Monte" Pilon and Jason McVean. "It's not them," said Cortez Police Chief Roy Lane. The men were identified as brothers Brendon J. Johnson, 21, and Raymond K. Johnson, 31, both of Hillsdale, Mich. They were being detained on weapons charges. Fremont County sheriff's deputies said the two likely are suspects in a Wyoming robbery that fueled initial speculation about a link to Pilon and McVean. For the better part of a year, authorities have been frustrated in their search for Pilon and McVean, accused of killing officer Dale Claxton during a traffic stop in Cortez May 29, 1998. Claxton died after he tried to stop three men in a stolen water truck traveling across a bridge. They opened fire with automatic weapons, hitting Claxton and his cruiser 26 times before he could even unbuckle his seat belt. In the ensuing chase and shootout, two Montezuma County sheriff's deputies were wounded. The third suspect died of a self-inflicted gunshot days later some 55 miles away near Bluff, Utah, after he wounded a San Juan County, Utah, deputy. McVean and Pilon eluded more than 500 police officers who tracked them in early June through rugged parts of Colorado and Utah. Lane said the suspects were last spotted in June in Montezuma Creek, Utah, near the Colorado River. Although there have been reports of them turning up later than that, none was confirmed. Lane said he was disappointed by the false report. "It's pretty much back to square one," he said. "I've said all along, and I still continue to say that they are not too far away from the Four Corners area. I think they are close by." He also speculated that they have had help in eluding authorities for so long. "I know that they have sympathizers in the area," he said. We'll continue to take all the leads that come into the command center and process those leads and see where they take us." On Wednesday, two men robbed the Rock Shop, a combination store, bar and restaurant about four miles east of South Pass City. The one- time ghost town, which has been restored as tourist attraction, is about 300 miles north of Cortez. The suspects, who were wearing military boots and ski masks, took about $500 cash and escaped in a stolen white truck, which was crashed into a ditch near the Patrick Draw Gas Plant, 32 miles east of Rock Springs. Sheriff's deputies believe the two fled on foot and then jumped an eastbound Union Pacific train early Thursday. Carbon County Sheriff Jerry Colson said a caretaker at the plant initially identified the suspects as Pilon and McVean based on photographs. Fremont County Sheriff Dave King said authorities found evidence the two men had been camping in the area for several days. In the truck, they seized parts of night vision equipment, sleeping bags, body armor and ammunition.

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