On Groundhog Day, as many lamented the prognostication by that fellow from Punxsutawney, I did a ride-along with a deputy from the Berthoud Squad of the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO). We answered a variety of calls, from the mundane to the thrilling, and I experienced some eye-opening moments, both light-hearted and sobering.
My host was LCSO Deputy Carlos Viruet-Reyes, a U.S. Navy veteran who is a nurse by training but switched gears in 2018 with a job at the Larimer County Jail. He says he was drawn to law enforcement because “I couldn’t find another job similar to (the Navy),” explaining that he was drawn to “Being in uniform, working with people who do the same thing as you.” He then joined the LCSO in 2021.
When asked what he considers the best calls, Viruet-Reyes said, “Any call where you can reward yourself with the thought that this person is no longer going to be a victim—or a case you can crack,” giving last year’s spate of burglaries in the Prairie Star development as an example.
Viruet-Reyes spoke with pride about how the Berthoud squad cracked the Prairie Star case. He said it was “a team effort,” utilizing myriad resources, including the Prairie Star homeowners association’s Flock automatic license plate readers (ALPRs). The deputy said that when squad members tracked the suspect down in his car, they found it loaded with the stolen goods. “He was heading to a storage unit and then to sell,” Viruet-Reyes said, noting with satisfaction that all the property was returned to its owners…