WHEAT RIDGE, Colo.—A man who walked away from a halfway house in August was arrested Wednesday after allegedly fleeing from police in an SUV, crashing into two vehicles and barricading himself in a home.
The Colorado Department of Corrections identified him as Justin Kautz, 23. He had been convicted of theft, disturbing the public peace, vehicular eluding with injury, possession of a weapon by a previous offender, aggravated motor vehicle theft, and menacing. He left a halfway house Aug. 1.
Arvada police spotted him in an SUV Wednesday and tried to pull him over, but he fled, spokeswoman Susan Medina said. The suspect collided with a red truck. Medina said the truck driver was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not believed to be life threatening.
The man then drove the SUV into a parking lot and struck an unoccupied SUV, Medina said. The suspect fled to a town home or apartment, leaving behind a woman riding in the SUV he was driving. Medina did not know the extent of the woman’s injuries.
Wheat Ridge police spokeswoman Lisa Stigall said the man barricaded himself in a home. Its residents were not there at the time, she said. Police evacuated neighbors and locked down four nearby schools while trying to reach the suspect for negotiations.
SWAT officers arrested him without incident around 4 p.m., Stigall said. Police said the man appeared to have been injured in the crashes.
Charges were pending.
