GOLDEN, Colo.—A 23-year-old Colorado man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for stealing an SUV and driving head-on into a police car, setting off a fiery explosion.
Branden Kyle Winters got the maximum sentence Wednesday. He pleaded guilty in December to vehicular eluding, second-degree assault and third-degree assault on an officer.
Authorities say Winters Wheat Ridge police started chasing Winters last February when a bus driver reported an errant driver. They say Winters rammed a police cruiser when an officer tried to contact him at a gas station.
Police say the chase reached speeds of 80 mph and that Winters drove head-on into a police car, causing both vehicles to explode into flames.
The officer wasn’t seriously injured. Winters ran and was found in a nearby home.
