Police Resolve, Make Arrest In, South Boulder Hostage Situation

BOULDER, CO -- Police have one man in custody in the resolution of a hostage situation Wednesday in the Table Mesa Shopping Center that lasted more than two hours.

Fidel Jaramillo, 45, was ultimately taken into custody as the suspect in this case without incident at 12:29 p.m. Jaramillo was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping, domestic violence and felony menacing, according to press release from the Boulder Police Department. Police have not released the victim's name, but report that she is safe.

Shortly after 10 a.m., Boulder Police received a 911 call about a man armed with at least one handgun who had taken a female hostage inside of Hair Rage International in the Table Mesa Shopping Center. At 10:19 a.m., Boulder Police reported the incident to the public on Twitter, asking everyone to avoid the area.

According to Boulder Police spokeswoman Shannon Aulabaugh, said in a press conference that a SWAT team and hostage negotiators were on the scene, and they had spoken to both the man and at least one woman inside, though she declined to reveal the content of those conversations.

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The closest businesses to Hair Rage were evacuated, but many businesses in the shopping center continued to serve customers.

Jake Rosenbarger, owner of Kim and Jake's Cakes located a few doors down from Hair Rage in the complex, hadn't arrived at work yet that morning, but was notified by employees that they were sheltering in the back bathroom. "It was pretty intense for the staff in the store," said Rosenbarger. "They didn't know exactly which shop it was." Rosenbarger's employees later abandoned the bathroom, realizing it shared a wall with several other businesses.

"We know the people in the hair salon pretty well," said Rosenbarger, who said his wife, Kim, has been getting her hair done there since their bakery opened. "We do all their birthday cakes, event cakes, wedding cakes."

After store representatives at the nearby King Soopers grocery store greeted one woman, warning her that she could enter but that the business was in "soft lockdown," she weighed the risks and entered, saying "I just need ginger." In a soft lockdown, customers are allowed to enter the business, but if it enters a full lockdown they will not be able to leave.

"Police were everywhere," said Rosenbarger, who drove immediately to the shopping center after hearing the news. "So much hardware, so many guns."

Many shopping center customers were waiting in the area after their cars had become trapped behind the police tape. Nearby schools entered lockdown protocol, and a planned voter registration march from Fairview High School to the South Boulder Recreation Center was postponed until the following day.

A Boulder police SWAT Team that included crisis negotiators, the regional Boulder County Bomb Squad, the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, University of Colorado Boulder Police Department and the Thornton Police Department all responded to the scene.

The case remains under investigation.

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Photo Credit: Mara Abbott/Patch