Aurora police wrapped a tourniquet on a suspected drunken driver’s arm after he fled from a traffic stop going the wrong way on Interstate 225 and slammed head-on into another car, causing a five-car pile-up early Saturday.
The male suspect underwent emergency surgery after sustaining life-threatening injuries, according to a news release by Jeff Turner, spokesman for the Aurora Police Department.
Bystanders and police lifted the man’s red GMC pickup truck so they could slide him out from underneath the pickup where he was trapped, Turner said. They were able to stop “profuse” bleeding with a tourniquet.
The name of the suspect, who is under investigation for driving while intoxicated, has not been released. Following rescue efforts by police and other motorists he is expected to live, Turner said.
Aurora police pulled the suspect over for a traffic stop at about 4:30 a.m. after he was spotted driving south on the northbound lanes of I-225 near East Colfax Avenue, Turner said.
The truck originally stopped near East Alameda Avenue but as officers approached the pickup, the suspect drove away, still headed south on the northbound lanes.
At East Mississippi Avenue, the pickup struck the end of a barrier in the construction zone and rolled onto its left side. As the pickup rolled, the suspect, who was not wearing his seat belt was partially ejected and became trapped under the truck as it continued sliding.
Five other vehicles were struck, but only one person out of 11 people who were in the other vehicles was hurt and that man received only minor injuries, Turner said.
Everyone in the other vehicles — a van, an SUV and three cars — were wearing seat belts or proper restraints, including three children. When the suspect’s rolling pickup collided head-on with a bronze Nissan Maxima, the male driver’s air bag deployed and he was not injured, Turner said.
A driver of a red Honda was hurt after his air bag deployed. Police believe this man was also drinking and he was arrested after he was taken to a hospital, treated and released, Turner said. His name was not released.
“Once again this crash demonstrates the importance of wearing seatbelts and properly restraining children in car seats,” Turner wrote in his news release. “Except for the at-fault driver of the red pick-up truck, all of the others were properly restrained and probably avoided serious injuries.”
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206, kmitchell@denverpost.com or ,
