DENVER — After nine months on the run, the suspect in a 2019 homicide in Breckenridge turned himself in to authorities in Connecticut.
According to the U.S. Marshals Service, Miles Fernando Tovar, 38, of Breckenridge, is in custody.
The Breckenridge Police Department had been searching for him for the better part of a year after his roommate, Brendan Rye, was found deceased on Nov. 6, 2019. A warrant for his arrest was issued on Feb. 3, 2022, charging him with manslaughter, first-degree burglary, first-degree criminal trespass, and harassment, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
The charges stem from Nov. 6, 2019. Just before 10 p.m. that day, officers responded to a call along the 1000 block of Grandview after receiving a report of shots fired. When police arrived, they found a 35-year-old man from Breckenridge — later identified as Tovar — with a gunshot wound in the leg, according to police. They also found Rye, who didn't appear to have been shot, but had significant injuries, according to the police department. A third person reported the call and was not injured.
Rye, who had recently moved to the area from Florida, died of his injuries at Saint Anthony’s Hospital in Lakewood. Tovar's injuries were not life-threatening, the police department said. He was released on Nov. 7, 2019, according to police.
Based on the police department's initial investigation, an altercation had started between Tovar and Rye. Police recovered a handgun from the scene.
According to the Vail Daily, the argument started after a night of drinking and the men started to fight. The newspaper reported that the coroner’s report read that Tovar said he heard a “loud bang” as a bullet hit him in the leg and then he put Rye in a headlock — which he claimed he did for self-defense — and heard another bang. Tovar said he held Rye on the ground until he stopped moving. The newspaper reported that the coroner's report listed Rye's manner of death as a homicide, and the cause was manual strangulation.
The police department reached out to the U.S. Marshals Service Colorado Violent Offender Task Force (COVOTF) for help locating Tovar. COVOTF took on the case on Feb. 9. Tips have led authorities to Colorado, Florida, California, Maine and New York, but Tovar "had been making significant efforts to avoid apprehension and conceal his whereabouts," according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
On Monday evening, authorities in Bridgeport, Connecticut received a call from an unknown person who said he was with a man named Miles Tovar, who wanted to turn himself in. Deputies arranged to meet up with Tovar, confirmed his identity, and took him into custody at the Brien McMahon Federal Building in Bridgeport.
Tovar will be extradited back to Colorado.
Breckenridge Police Chief Jim Baird thanked the U.S. Marshals Service for their help with the case.
“The pressure put on by the efforts of the U.S. Marshals Service undoubtedly influenced the suspect’s decision to do the right thing and turn himself in to answer to these charges," Baird said. "In a small town like Breckenridge, we don’t have resources to conduct a nationwide search for a suspect. The partnership the Marshals Service maintains with local law enforcement agencies and the dedication they show to their mission is crucial to our success.”
