A carful of suspected robbers being chased by police crashed into a van near the intersection of Speer Boulevard and Auraria Parkway on Friday.
The driver of the suspects’ car was injured and taken to a local hospital, as was the driver of the van, said Sonny Jackson, a Denver police spokesman. But at least one passenger in the suspects’ car got away, prompting police to lockdown the Auraria campus for a time.
The incident started at about 11 a.m. in Westminster, where three men robbed a fast-food restaurant near Federal Boulevard and 70th Avenue, Westminster police said. Witnesses provided a description and a partial license plate number for the suspects’ car, police said.
Westminster officers found a car matching the description and pursued it south on Federal Boulevard after it did not pull over during an attempted traffic stop.
The chase led into Denver on Federal, then turned onto Speer, where the crash occurred. Officers arrested the driver of the suspects’ car and recovered a handgun in a parking lot on the Auraria campus, police said. But one, or perhaps two, suspects fled on foot, Jackson said.
The Auraria campus was shut down for about 45 minutes as police looked for the man, or men, who fled.
The van that was hit is a Denver Public Works vehicle used to collect coins from parking meters, Jackson said.
The condition of the two injured in the crash was not available.
Staff writer Kieran Nicholson can be reached at 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
