Sirens and the sound of gunfire shattered a quiet Saturday morning in a Denver neighborhood as a police pursuit of a stolen Jeep screamed through nine blocks in less than three minutes.
As quickly as it began, the high-speed pursuit came to an explosive stop, leaving one man dead and debris scattered across the intersection of East 22nd Avenue and Downing Street.
It began shortly after 8 a.m., when Denver police started receiving 911 calls about a nude woman screaming on her front porch and bleeding from her face.
Officers arrived at the residence in the 2900 block of Lafayette Street following the report of a home-invasion robbery and a possible sexual assault, said Lt. Matt Murray, a spokesman for the Denver Police Department. There were two people in the home at the time.
When officers arrived, they learned that a man had stolen a woman’s silver Jeep sport utility vehicle. Investigators later determined that the suspect had fired a gun at the scene.
Police were given a description of a Latino male about 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing 175 pounds, with tattoos on his arms. There was an initial report of a second suspect, but police later determined there was only one, Murray said.
The Colorado State Patrol air unit was called to assist and was able to locate the car using its LoJack system. LoJack is a private company that allows law enforcement to track a vehicle if it is reported stolen.
Denver police spotted the stolen Jeep at East 30th Avenue and High Street, and the pursuit began.
“Officers were given permission to use extreme measures to stop the vehicle,” Murray said.
Around 9 a.m., the Jeep was heading south on Downing Street when officers deployed a “PIT maneuver” at 22nd Avenue, in which a police car hit the Jeep’s back bumper, causing it to spin out of control.
After the Jeep came to a stop, the suspect pointed a gun at officers from inside the Jeep, Murray said. Two of the four officers on the scene fired their weapons, killing the suspect.
He was pronounced dead at the scene. His identity has not been released.
The man’s body was lying outside the Jeep on Saturday morning.
This was the first fatal officer-involved shooting for Denver police in a year. The last fatal shooting was Aug. 1, 2010.
Alex Fowler saw the end of the pursuit, he said. He had just arrived in the neighborhood to do maintenance on a home when he saw the Jeep driving 60 to 70 mph southbound on Downing Street.
After officers hit the Jeep’s back bumper, it spun several times before coming to a stop. Fowler then saw a man get out of the Jeep but could not tell if he was holding a weapon.
Police fired three or four shots, and the man fell to the ground, Fowler said.
“It was all so fast,” Fowler said. “You don’t expect to see a stolen car and a police shootout.”
No officers or bystanders were injured.
At least four police cruisers had crumpled hoods or bumpers, and a tree on the northwest corner of the intersection was ripped out of the ground.
Derrick Thorne and his wife live near the home where the woman was seen screaming on her porch. Thorne’s wife said she heard gunshots and later saw sirens when she stepped outside.
Thorne was working in the yard at his mother’s house near 23rd Avenue and Downing Street when he heard several gunshots and sirens.
Thorne said he has never heard or seen anything unusual at the house, where he says two women live.
“I always saw them working on their yard, and they always said hello,” Thorne said. “All of this, this is just crazy.”
Police were still investigating what happened at the home. They could not confirm how many people were at the residence Saturday morning.
The case is being monitored by Denver’s Office of the Independent Monitor.
Jordan Steffen: 303-954-1794 or jsteffen@denverpost.com
