A pickup slammed into police cars and motorists Thursday evening during a chase that wound through downtown Denver’s busiest streets.
Authorities corralled the Ford pickup by slamming into it in a parking lot entrance on the west end of Coors Field.
At least one motorist, a woman whose Volkswagon Jetta was rear-ended at Colfax Avenue and Broadway, was injured and rushed to a hospital. The extent of her injuries was not known.
Several police officers were treated for minor injuries and a man who jumped from the fleeing pickup was also transported to a hospital.
Police did not say why they were pursuing the vehicle.
The chase began just after 7:30 p.m., as officers tried to stop the pickup as it sped west on Colfax into downtown.
The pickup at one point turned into oncoming traffic at Broadway and slammed into the rear of the Jetta before traveling onto a fountain park directly in front of Denver News Agency building at the corner of the busy intersection.
Phillip Summers, 39, of Denver was one of several people waiting at a bus stop at the intersection who ran for cover at the sight of the speeding pickup.
“We were all just trying to get out of the way, because he wasn’t slowing down or anything,” Summers said. “It came pretty close to hitting some of us.”
From there the Ford barreled over short concrete barriers at the intersection and continued down 15th Street, where a male passenger jumped out at Welton Street.
The chase then continued down 15th, turning north on Wazee and ramming police cars along the way until it was stopped in Lower Downtown.
Tom Rogers was stopped at the intersection in his vehicle when he saw the pickup skidding around the corner. Rogers, 50, of Denver said it appeared that up to 20 police cars were chasing down the driver.
“He came around that corner almost too fast to maintain control,” Rogers said. “It seemed like he was doing whatever it took to get away.”
Staff writer Manny Gonzales can be reached at 303-954-1537 or mgonzales@denverpost.com
