A Pueblo police officer, his wife and child were the targets of an apparent murder attempt today in Pueblo, investigators said this afternoon.
Someone placed a propane tank outside the officer's home in Pueblo West and ran a hose into the garage of the home, filling the residence with dangerously high levels of gas, said Pueblo County Sheriff Kirk Taylor .
Had the gas exploded, it would have blown out the walls of the house and caused "an extreme amount of damage," Taylor said.
"I think it is the highest form of cowardice," Taylor said.
"They (police) are in a tough profession. It is as low as you can get," said Taylor of the attempt on the officer and his family.
Late this evening, officials said 47-year-old Robert Bruce had been arrested in the case.
The officer was scheduled to testify against Bruce on Tuesday in a "Peeping Tom" case, the Pueblo Chieftain reported.
The metro bomb squad and firefighters were called to the residence in the 1300 block of West Los Charros Drive at 9:22 a.m.
The officer, who was in full uniform and was leaving for work, heard hissing as he left his house.
The hissing was coming from the tank. After locating the tank and seeing the hose, the officer called for assistance.
The bomb squad dismantled the propane tank. It had no igniter or detonation switch, but gas had traveled from the tank into the home, said Taylor. Firefighters cleared the home of the gas.
Taylor said the officer's wife and child had left the home shortly before the device was discovered.

Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com