WHEAT RIDGE — A man who allegedly rammed two Wheat Ridge police cars with a stolen sport utility vehicle and then tried to strangle a police dog Tuesday morning was subdued by the dog in the crawl space of a home.
The driver of the SUV, Branden Winters, 22, was arrested for investigation of first-degree assault on a police officer, second-degree assault for attempting to strangle the police dog, aggravated motor-vehicle theft, felony eluding and second-degree burglary.
The events unfolded over a 42-block stretch of residential streets beginning just before 7 a.m., when a Wheat Ridge police officer spotted an SUV that had been reported stolen.
The officer turned on his overhead lights and followed the vehicle into a gas station parking lot at West 38th Avenue and Kipling Street.
There, the driver, identified as Winters, made a sharp U-turn and rammed the patrol car head-on, said Wheat Ridge police spokeswoman Lisa Stigall.
The officer fired two shots at Winters through the windshield of his cruiser, Stigall said.
Winters then peeled out of the parking lot and led police on a high-speed pursuit east across town.
With police following — including the patrol car that was rammed at the gas station — the driver eventually sped across the grass at Panorama Park and emerged at West 35th Avenue, where he rammed the first officer’s car again.
Stigall said the SUV headed west on 35th and hit a second Wheat Ridge patrol car head-on near Fenton Street, causing both vehicles to burst into flames.
Winters then ran into the neighborhood.
Several schools in the area were locked down as a precaution.
Wheat Ridge and Everitt middle schools were locked down, along with Jefferson High School. Stevens, Marten sen, Lumberg, Edgewater and Wilmore Davis elementary schools also were locked down.
Shad Richards, who lives in the 3400 block of Fenton Street, was looking out the window of his home office when he saw the SUV driving through Panorama Park and then heard the crash.
He then went outside with his wife.
“The guy was about 8 feet from us,” Rich ards said. “I probably could have tackled him.”
The suspect climbed the Richardses’ fence and disappeared into their backyard.
Richards and his wife went into their home, where they watched as three officers and a police dog tracked the suspect to a townhouse a few doors down.
Stigall said that once the police dog tracked Winters, the dog and its handler entered the home and the dog spotted Winters in the crawl space. When Winters wouldn’t come out, the dog was ordered to “enter and apprehend.”
As Winters attempted to strangle the dog, the dog bit Winters several times on the arm. Stigall said the dog was not injured.
Winters was transported to the hospital for treatment of dog bites and for injuries suffered in the car crash.
“We were very grateful none of our officers were injured,” Stigall said.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
