Carjacking thwarted when driver shoots suspect in head

Hector Gutierrez, Rocky Mountain News

Published March 24, 2007 at midnight

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A carjacking victim may have turned the tables late Friday when he shot the suspect in the head as the man drove down the street.

Denver detectives and Aurora police were trying to sort out a violent sequence of events they said involved a carjacking, a possible kidnapping and a traffic collision in which the carjacking suspect slammed into another vehicle carrying five people. The ordeal began about 9 p.m. in the 9800 block of East Girard Avenue in Denver, Detective Virginia Quinones said.

She was only able to provide sketchy details but said the vehicle was carjacked with the owner inside. "The vehicle owner somehow has access to a gun and shot the person in the head," she said. The car owner then managed to get out of his vehicle while the wounded man continued driving. As he drove on South Havana Street, the man crashed into another car at East Kentucky Avenue. Five people riding in that vehicle suffered minor injuries. After the collision, the suspect fled on foot and was captured after a police dog found him in the back of a Budget Rental Car business in the 600 block of South Havana Street.

The suspect was taken to an Aurora hospital where his condition was not known late Friday.

Detectives were trying to determine whether the two men knew each other. The vehicle owner was taken to the Denver Police Department for questioning.

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