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Sheriff gets new armored vehicle

Just the ticket for hostage situations
La Plata County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Nate Harris and three other deputies completed training last month to operate and drive the MaxProV.

The La Plata County Sheriff’s Office has a new armored vehicle in operation.

It weighs 37,000 pounds, runs on diesel and gets fewer than 10 miles per gallon.

It’s the MaxProV, the market price of which is $658,000. La Plata County got it last winter for no cost through the Colorado Department of Defense Excess Property Program, put about $4,000 into it, and now it’s ready to roll.

The program is administered by the Law Enforcement Support Office and coordinated by the Colorado State Patrol.

A MaxProV was used to rescue people isolated by flash floods on the Front Range last fall, La Plata County Sheriff’s spokesman Dan Bender said Thursday.

The vehicle’s high clearance and large tires allowed it to access areas impossible to visit by regular rescue vehicles, he said.

Law-enforcement officers used two armored vehicles similar to the MaxProV to immobilize the getaway car of a man involved in the shooting deaths of six people in Houston.

The MaxProV can be used to rescue injured people in areas exposed to lethal threats or the evacuation of people near a barricaded person, Bender said.

“The Columbine High School incident and subsequent shooter-related incidents across the country demonstrated how inadequate fire trucks and police cars are when trying to remove innocents from a threatened area,” Bender said.

The MaxProV replaces the AADVARK (Armored All-terrain Rescue & Deployment Vehicle) built in 1982 that was being used by his department, Bender said.

The $4,000 spent by La Plata County was to alter the interior to accommodate more people or stretchers and to install emergency lights, radios and safety features.

Four deputies have been trained to operate the MaxProV.

The vehicle will be available to law enforcement and fire departments in the region when requested for mutual aid.

daler@durangoherald.com



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