After he was doused with gas by a carjacker, a man jumped into the bed of his own pickup truck before the thief could drive away; then the man called police on his cellphone.
Joshua Laverne Jones, 24, was arrested after a police chase during which he jumped out of the moving truck, which then smashed into a garage door, said Trevor Materasso, spokesman for the Westminster Police Department.
“It was kind of unusual,” Materasso said of the robbery.
The victim, Spencer Holcomb of Lakewood, was in the parking lot of the Table Steaks bar at 1931 Sheridan Blvd. in Edgewater at 3:30 a.m. when he climbed into his truck.
At that moment, Jones pulled Holcomb out of the pickup, Materasso said.
But Holcomb quickly ran around the truck and climbed in the passenger’s seat before Jones drove away, police said.
Jones later stopped the truck and pulled Holcomb out of the truck’s cab, Materasso said. Jones had a water bottle filled with gasoline and doused Holcomb with fuel, Materasso said.
Jones climbed back into the truck and drove off. But before he got away, Holcomb jumped into the bed of the truck. The suspect apparently didn’t see him do that.
Holcomb called police from his cellphone as Jones drove around for about two hours.
A police officer spotted the truck about 5:30 a.m. near 80th Avenue and Clay Street, Materasso said. Holcomb tried to catch their attention by “waving and screaming,” Materasso said.
When Jones saw that a police car was following him, he jumped out while the truck was still moving and ran away, Materasso said.
Holcomb was still inside the bed of the truck when it smashed into a garage door in near Clay Street and Decatur Court, Materasso said.
Police dogs tracked Jones, and he was eventually captured in an apartment complex.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-820-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
