Pueblo County deputies injured two people Tuesday night while investigating a “suspicious vehicle” at a gas station, according to the sheriff’s office.
A 23-year-old man was shot twice as he fled from deputies, and his 42-year-old passenger was also injured when deputies later flipped the fleeing vehicle on a state highway, according to the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office.
Pueblo County deputies responded to the gas station in the 31900 block of Colorado 96 just after 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, when an employee reported a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot, according to a news release from the .
A customer told the gas station employee that a man approached him in the parking lot asking for money, according to an .
When the customer didn’t have any cash, the man threatened to rob the next customer who came into the store, sheriff’s officials said.
Deputies tried to talk to the two people in the gold Ford Explorer when they arrived, but the suspect drove off, hitting two patrol cars on his way out, sheriff’s officials said in the release.
That’s when one unidentified deputy shot at the suspect vehicle, , sheriff’s officials said.
One deputy inside the patrol car was injured in the crash, sheriff’s officials said. As of Wednesday afternoon, he had been released from the hospital.
The suspect then fled westbound on Colorado 96 until deputies hit the car about four miles later, forcing it to roll, according to the sheriff’s office.
The driver and passenger are both expected to survive, sheriff’s officials said.
Sheriff’s officials said the deputies’ use of force will be investigated by the 10th Judicial District Critical Incident Response Team, led by the Pueblo Police Department. The deputy who fired his weapon has been placed on paid administrative leave.
