A chain of hit-and-run accidents involving a Denver police cruiser and other vehicles along a 10-block stretch of East Colfax Avenue on Tuesday night sent six people, including the alleged drunken driver and an unrelated suspect in the police car, to the hospital with minor injuries.
The events began about 7:15 p.m., when a black Ford Expedition struck a parked police car at Fillmore Street, said Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson.
The driver, who has not been named, then sped away to the west at more than 80 mph, hitting a car at Williams Street and then slamming into the back of a Honda sedan west of Gilpin Street. The impact pushed the car about 300 feet before it came to rest against a pole at Franklin Street and Park Avenue.
The woman who was driving the demolished Honda was injured but alert, Jackson said.
Another car also was hit after the sport-utility vehicle hit the Honda, and three people were taken to the hospital in that vehicle, he said. The SUV driver also was hurt.
“This could have been a whole lot worse, looking at the damage we have here,” Jackson said.
The officer and the driver of the vehicle hit at Williams were not injured, Jackson said, but a person detained in the cruiser was hurt.
Jackson said there was no police chase. He said more details would be made available later, when the driver’s blood-alcohol level and other matters are investigated.
East Colfax Avenue remained closed Tuesday night, and Jackson said he could not predict when it would reopen. “We’ve got a very long crime scene here,” he said.
The wrecks caused excitement and dozens of gawkers gathered along one of the city’s primary thoroughfares.
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com
