ARVADA — A three-hour police chase across the north metro region ended at a home surrounded by a SWAT team in Arvada this evening.
Michael Craig, 38, of Federal Heights was wanted by the Department of Corrections on a parole violation, and only added mightily to his rap sheet this evening, said Susan Medina, spokeswoman for the Arvada Police Department.
“He’s facing a large number of charges,” she said, “starting with the parole violation.”
Craig is accused of leading police from several jurisdictions on a high-speed chase on interstates 25 and 70, starting at 3:40 p.m.
When speeds and maneuvers westbound on Interstate 70 endangered other drivers, police backed off near Wadsworth Boulevard.
A woman who police say was Craig’s passenger and a woman who owned the home where the holed up were both in custody tonight, as well, Medina said.
She would not name them while they were being questioned.
“We’re still trying to determine their role in all this,” she said. “I’m not going to name them unless they’re charged with a crime.”
While the search continued until about 8:15 p.m., residents who had been out were kept from returning to their homes in the meandering neighborhoods between Kipling Street and Independence Road north of Ridge Road north to Grandview Avenue. Residents who were home when the search began were told to stay indoors by a reverse 911 calling system.
Information about Craig led them to the home where he was hiding, not far from where he ditched his maroon Chrysler.
According to Colorado Department of Correctons records, Craig was sentenced to 18 months on a weapons charge in August 2002, three years and four years, respectively, on forgery charges in Jefferson County two weeks later.
In January 2003 he was sentenced to four years for disturbing the public peace in Arapahoe County. Records do not indicate when he was paroled.
