Suspect accused of multiple armed burglaries in Colorado neighborhood arrested
Mesa County deputies arrested a suspect Sunday who reportedly broke into a church and a home in Grand Junction, firing at residents.
The sheriff's office said they received a report of a burglary and shots fired at a church in the 400 block of 23 Road around 1:28 a.m. A person living in the church told deputies that a man broke into the building and fired multiple rounds at him. Authorities said the front door of the church and a window were shattered.
Deputies and Grand Junction police officers surrounded the building and issued a shelter-in-place to residents within one block of the church while they searched the area.
During the search, they heard multiple gunshots fired from the 500 block of 23 Road around 2 a.m. Homeowners in the area called to report a man broke into their home and fired at them multiple times. When the homeowners fired back, the suspect fled.
SWAT was deployed to the home and temporarily removed the homeowners from the residence as a precaution. Meanwhile, another shelter-in-place was issued for residences within a mile of the home.
A nearby homeowner awoken by the shelter-in-place notification spotted the suspect and called dispatch. They told authorities that a man matching the suspect's description was checking car door handles on the 2300 block of South Rim Drive.
Law enforcement surrounded the suspect, later identified as 22-year-old Dakota Mortensen of Grand Junction, and placed him under arrest. Mortensen was booked into the Mesa County Detention Facility. He is facing numerous charges, including:
- Three counts of menacing with a real/simulated weapon
- Three counts of assault, second-degree reckless with serious bodily injury with a deadly weapon
- Three counts of criminal attempt
- Three counts of reckless endangerment
- Two counts of first-degree burglary, assaults or menaces or is armed
- Two counts of criminal mischief, $2,000 - $5,000
- Two counts of prohibited use of weapons
- One count of impersonating a police officer
