Police captured a carjacking suspect near West Alameda Avenue and Bannock Street early Thursday evening after a car chase through the heart of Denver during rush hour.
The incident started near Harvard Gulch Park, at the intersection of East Iliff Avenue and South Emerson Street, when an SUV was stolen at gunpoint, said Sonny Jackson, a Denver Police Department spokesman.
The victim called police immediately and officers spotted the stolen SUV quickly, Jackson said. Officers got a green light to pursue the vehicle because the suspect was armed.
The chase went as far east as Colorado Boulevard before winding its way north and west toward central Denver.
Along the way the SUV hit speeds topping 70 mph and it took out a portion of a fence.
In the area of West Alameda and South Cherokee Street the driver of the SUV jumped a curb and tried to drive along a sidewalk in an effort to evade police. That’s when the driver hit a tree, jumped out of the SUV and attempted to escape on foot.
Officers caught him in short order.
The identity of the suspect, a man in his mid-20s, was not immediately released.
There were no reported injuries in the incident.
The man is in custody and an investigation is ongoing.
