Police have identified the 19-year-old victim of a gang-related shooting whose body was discovered in the trunk of a car after a high-speed police chase.
The body of Salomon Adolfo Mendoza was found early Thursday in the vehicle after it crashed into a barricade near Interstate 25 and South Santa Fe Drive.
Police arrested Phillip F. Montano, 21; Derrick W. Blake, 32; and Angela C. Sanders, 33. Montano and Blake are being held at the Jefferson County Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder, Davis said. Sanders was booked on suspicion of being an accessory and felony eluding.
At 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, police stopped a pedestrian who directed officers to a nearby home, telling them of gunfire there, said Steve Davis, a Lakewood Police Department spokesman.
As officers drove toward the home where the shots were reported — in the 200 block of South Ingalls Street — a silver Toyota Camry was leaving the area, said Andrea Joo, Lakewood police spokeswoman.
Police tried to stop the car, but the driver headed eastbound on West Alameda Avenue and refused to stop.
The Camry crossed into Denver, and the car spun out near Alameda and South Santa Fe Drive. A passenger, identified by police as Montano, jumped out of the car, Joo said. He was taken into custody.
The Camry headed south on Santa Fe Drive, and it crashed into a guard rail a short time later, where police took Sanders and Blake into custody.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
