Brief flight from bondsman comes to end on Kmart roof/ Cop tackles

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), May 7, 2003 | by DEEDEE CORRELL

A woman running from a bail bondsman Tuesday climbed to the roof of a Kmart store and threatened to jump until a police officer tackled her.

As the woman balanced on the edge of the roof, Colorado Springs Police Officer Marcus Van Ooyen snatched a ladder from the store's garden center and climbed to the roof. There, he crawled 70 feet on his belly, then waited until he saw his chance and sprinted to grab her.

"He's a good example of the people we want here as police officers," said Sgt. Richard Reisler, adding he intends to nominate the officer for a lifesaving award.

Sam James of Jesse James Bail Bonds had been looking for the 21- year-old for about a week after she failed to show up in court on charges of felony theft and possession and manufacture of a Schedule 2 controlled substance.

He found her about 5 p.m. Tuesday, not far from Kmart. But she refused to cooperate, James said.

"All she had to do was turn herself in. It was a very easy thing. She had to make it a hard thing," he said.

She ran, and James chased her. As they dashed through the streets, onlookers called police, fearing the man was a rapist.

When the woman reached Kmart near the intersection of Fillmore Street and Nevada Avenue, she grabbed a wire attached to the side of the building, hoisted herself up, then climbed over one of the enormous letters in the Kmart sign.

James said he stopped chasing her at that point.

"We backed off," he said. "We stayed away. We didn't want to spook her while she was on the roof."

When police arrived, they found the woman balanced on the corner of the roof, her toes sticking off the edge, about 25 feet off the ground.

"I thought she was going to go straight down to the concrete," Reisler said.

Police called for a negotiator, who stood on the sidewalk and spoke to the woman. Meanwhile, other officers moved the crowd away so they couldn't yell suggestions to the woman.

She told police she wanted to speak to her boyfriend, but he apparently refused to come because he also was wanted by police, Reisler said.

Meanwhile, Van Ooyen had climbed to the roof and crept unseen to a roof vent, where he hid and waited for his chance.

He saw it when the woman left the corner and walked south along the edge. When she made her way behind the sign, where the letters created a barrier that would prevent her from jumping, Van Ooyen rose.

"Marcus makes a mad dash," Reisler said. "He sprints 127 feet and tackles her." Reisler gave the officer, who's worked with the department for about three years, the night off.

"He ruined his pants and scuffed up his elbow," he said.

But otherwise, he said no one was hurt. The woman was taken to Penrose Hospital.

James praised police for their rescue and capture.

"They did a fine job," he said. "I'm happy everything turned out."