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News / Northwest

Suspects in Colorado slaying, other crimes held in Oregon

By Associated Press
Published: February 25, 2019, 12:00pm

ROSEBURG, Ore. — Two men suspected in crimes across three states, including a deadly Colorado carjacking, have been arrested, authorities said Monday.

Oregon State Police Capt. Timothy Fox said Jose Lopez-Jovel, 31, and Matthew Anthony Fanelli, 30, were being held in separate county jails on multiple charges. They are suspected of being the same men behind a fatal shooting in Colorado and armed hold-ups in Utah and Wyoming, authorities said.

The two men set off a police pursuit in Roseburg on Saturday when they attempted to steal a car outside a Red Robin restaurant, according to police. They failed in their effort and tried to flee but Lopez-Jovel was left behind and was quickly arrested

Fanelli went onto an interstate, igniting a police chase. Investigators say he opened fire several times. At least one bullet disabled a state police vehicle and another hit an occupied child car seat in a passenger vehicle. Authorities did not say if anyone was injured.

Fanelli then tried to carjack another vehicle from a couple. Police say he shot the man, critically injuring him, and assaulted the woman. Police did not immediately respond to inquiries about the man’s condition.

The suspect was unable to take the car. His own car then became disabled and he was subsequently taken into custody.

Authorities in Oregon say both men are suspected of fatally shooting a man in Denver among other crimes. About two hours before the Denver shooting, Fanelli is suspected of firing a gun at a strip club near Colorado Springs after becoming upset when he was asked to leave.

The El Paso County Sheriff’s office said Fanelli, who was accompanied by an unidentified Hispanic man, fired at the club manager and two bouncers before getting away but no one was hurt. It also said Fanelli physically assaulted a woman inside.

Police say after the Denver slaying, the two men took off in the victim’s black 2015 Cadillac sedan. The vehicle was used two hours later in an armed robbery at a convenience store in Cheyenne, Wyoming, 100 miles (160 kilometers) north. Nobody was injured, according to Cheyenne police. But the men stole cash and merchandise and returned to the Cadillac, where a woman was waiting.

Six hours after the Cheyenne robbery, the same men robbed a Wells Fargo bank in Park City, Utah, 440 miles (710 kilometers) west of Cheyenne, authorities said. Summit County sheriff’s deputies said the suspects drove away in a black Cadillac with the same Colorado license plate as the car stolen in Denver.

It was not immediately known Monday if Lopez-Jovel, who is from El Salvador, and Fanelli, of New Mexico, had attorneys.

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