Suspect in custody after standoff that closed Highway 36 north of Boulder

LYONS, Colo. – All lanes of Highway 36 were closed north of Boulder for several hours Thursday as law enforcement officers negotiated with a driver following a pursuit.

The highway was closed between Hygiene Road and Highway 66.

The pursuit began in Longmont, where officers went to a home on Hover Street looking for Russell Ehrlich, 40, who was wanted on a felony warrant for sexual exploitation. Ehrlich didn't answer the door, so officers left.

Officers soon spotted him driving away from the area and tried to pull him over, police said. When Ehrlich refused to pull over, officers engaged in a pursuit and used stop sticks in an attempt to deflate his tires. Police said Ehrlich kept driving onto Highway 36, where he eventually stopped his car.

Police said officers, with the help of the Boulder County Sheriff's Office and the Colorado State Patrol, were in contact with Ehrlich via phone and were trying to get him to surrender. SWAT and the bomb squad were also on scene and police said Ehrlich told officers he was armed with a gun.

Ehrlich was taken into custody around 2:30 p.m. after authorities sent in a K-9. No shots were fired during the standoff or arrest.

Ehrlich is considered a "sexually violent predator" and in Nov. 2016, police issued a public to inform neighbors that Ehrlich had moved to Longmont from the Boulder County Jail, where he was serving under a work release program.