LAKESIDE — Moments before police fired at a Lexus SUV as it bore down on them, a passenger hung from the window and taunted them with his middle finger.
The incident occurred early Saturday after police arrived to investigate a report of gunfire erupting at a party in the 4300 block of Fenton Street.
Police found shell casings and blood on the steps leading to the front door of the home when they arrived about 3 a.m.
A neighbor who witnessed the incident stayed in bed after he heard the initial volley of about a dozen shots coming from the nearby house. Later he went to the window and saw the normally quiet street flooded with police.
Police had been on the scene for a while when the sport utility vehicle turned the corner from 44th Avenue and sped down the block, he said. The SUV, identified by police as a green Lexus, made a U-turn and headed back toward officers standing in the street.
The cops fired about four bullets at the speeding vehicle.
“They (the vehicle’s occupants) started swerving out of the way to avoid the cop when he started shooting at them,” said the man, whom The Denver Post is not identifying because the suspect is still at large.
Jefferson County police spokeswoman Jacki Kelley confirmed the story Sunday.
A Colorado State Patrol trooper chased the Lexus, which was later found abandoned at 14th Avenue and Raleigh Street. The car had been stolen from Arapahoe County.
Another neighbor, who also asked not to be identified, said that police hauled away a new BMW parked near the home that they identified to him as stolen.
Three men and two women who refused to leave the apartment were removed by SWAT teams who came to the home with a tank and an armored car. All were taken to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office for questioning. Two of the men are being held on unrelated warrants.
There was bad blood between some neighbors in the four-unit apartment, Kelley said. She didn’t know whether the sour relations led to the incident.
One neighbor said the gunfire followed an altercation between a building resident and visitors to the unit where the party was held.
A man who was dropped off by friends at St. Anthony’s Central Hospital about 3:10 a.m. with a gunshot wound to the knee Saturday has been linked to the incident, Kelley said.
Neighbors said there were frequent parties in the apartment and a flow of people coming and going.
Police are still investigating and expect to make more arrests.
“Officers from Lakeside have been out there numerous times in the past year,” Kelley said. “We suspect this group was involved in additional crime.”
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
Denver Post reporter George Plaven contributed to this report.
