Two people are dead after officers fired on a pickup truck that rammed patrol cars in Adams County, police said.
The dead men were identified late this afternoon as Juan Luis Arteaga, 21, and Jose Cruz Banuelos, 22, both Denver residents.
The incident started at about 2 a.m. when a Westminster police officer picked up an anti-theft “LoJack” signal from a vehicle near Cuchara Street and Greenwood Boulevard in Adams County, said Candi Baker, a sheriff’s office spokeswoman.
The Westminster police officer, who was driving back to Westminster after dropping off someone at the Adams County Jail in Brighton, followed the signal and was joined by a sheriff’s deputy.
As they closed in on the vehicle, a stolen pickup truck, the driver fled and officers pursued it.
Officers from the Colorado State Patrol and Federal Heights Police Department joined in the pursuit.
A short time later, the truck “rammed” three patrol cars in an attempt to get away, Baker said.
Near East 62nd Avenue and Broadway two officers, one from Westminster and an Adams County deputy, fired at the truck.
This morning investigators are combing over the scene. The pickup truck, a dark Ford, crashed into the side of a building at Paulino Gardens, a floral nursery and garden center. East 62nd Avenue is taped off by police and orange cones and other evidence markers dot the street.
The area where the incident happened is mostly a mix of business and light industry.
Two people in the truck died at the scene. A third person, who is in police custody, was not injured.
No police officers were injured. The identities of the people involved have not been released.
The incident is under investigation.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
