Hostage negotiators are talking to a man who has barricaded himself with hostages inside a southwest Denver apartment tonight, as an army of armed police officers and SWAT units stand by.
Residents inside the Peachtree Apartments have been told to stay inside since before 6 p.m. tonight, after the suspect in a string of armed carjackings since Sunday barged into strangers’ apartment after he crashed a stolen car nearby.
He also had been in a foot chase with police, turning to fire at least one shot at an officers, said Lt. Ron Saunier, spokesman for the Denver police department.
The same man is suspect in two other armed carjackings in south metro today and a string of home break-ins and two carjackings Sunday in the area.
No one, so far, has been injured, Saunier said.
“We’ve got a negotiators on the scene, and we’re communicating with him,” Saunier said before 9 p.m.
The man is holding at least one hostage in inside the Peachtree Apartments at 3550 S. Kendall St., immediately south of Hampden Boulevard.
He took members of a family that were unknown to him hostage, Saunier said, but let some go later.
The man’s family members have been called to help with negotiations, but police are not publicly identifying the suspect.
“We’ve spent a great deal of time and effort to apprehend this individual,” Saunier said.
A perimeter of heavily armed police units from Denver, Lakewood and other agencies was set up around the complex and residents were told to stay in their apartments.
Neighbors who had not made it home from work waited from about two blocks away. Though an evacuation of the neighborhood was never ordered, those who lived in or immediately near the apartments were not allowed back in.
“I’ve talked to my daughter and she said police are everywhere,” said resident Sarah Winston. “It’s scary, but at least they have him surrounded. I feel better about that.”
The chain of events Tuesday began when a Buick was stolen from a mechanic shop Tuesday afternoon. Littleton police think the same man carjacked a van a gunpoint later in the afternoon, The van was ditched at shopping center, where he took a Honda sedan at gunpoint about 5:15 p.m.
The black Honda then led police on a chase before crashing into the fence.
Police also say they are investigating whether the suspect is the man who broke into several houses in the Coventry gated community Sunday.
Coventry is near the intersection of South Sheridan Boulevard and Bowles Avenue.
That man allegedly stole a Cadillac Escalade, parked it at another house, and then stole a Jaguar.
