Cop during chase: 'They're still on my a--! ... He's going to ram me'

Alan Gathright, Rocky Mountain News

Published September 6, 2007 at midnight

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Suspected car thieves rammed a police car early this morning in a heart-pounding pursuit that crisscrossed the metro area and forced closure of key highways and roads.

The wild chase began during an undercover stakeout in northwest Denver and ended when officers from several agencies corralled five suspects by a horse pen in rural Adams County.

Officers were still hunting two fugitives this afternoon, Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson said.

The drama was triggered about 2 a.m. when members of a suspected auto-theft ring spotted a Denver undercover officer videotaping them from a black pickup at Federal Boulevard and West 50th Avenue.

Suddenly, the suspects turned the tables on the undercover cop, charging after him in a stolen silver pickup and ramming his Dodge pickup in the frenzied chase through Denver freeways and downtown streets.

"They're right behind me. They're still on my a--!" the undercover officer radioed for backup in the drama captured on a police scanner recording.

"I'm going about a 105 (mph)," the officer said as he headed eastbound on Interstate 70.

When a fellow officer asked if he could merge onto Interstate 25, the undercover cop replied: "I don't care. I just need some cops here."

As marked patrol cars rushed to help, another officer stressed: "We have a UC (undercover) black Dodge truck, being followed by a silver Dodge truck acting like they possibly want to jump him."

"These guys are armed and dangerous," the undercover cop chimed in. "Any help with me?" he asked.

As the robbers-and-cops chase veered south on I-25, the pursued officer radioed that the silver pickup was repeatedly trying to ram his truck.

"Alright, we're going to go through Colfax (Avenue overpass). He's going to ram me here," the officer said matter-of-factly as the pickup slammed into his truck.

Marked patrol cars were chasing the suspects' pickup as it left the highway and headed north on surface streets through the Civic Center and downtown areas.

The stolen pickup repeatedly raced up the wrong lane, at one point driving northbound at 95 mph on southbound Colorado Boulevard.

Fortunately, there was "no traffic" — as officers frequently updated dispatchers — because of the chase's early-morning timing. No injuries were reported.

As the pursuit headed north on Colorado Boulevard out of Denver, a second carload of suspects — a green Lincoln Town Car — roared up, aggressively attempting to "knock the officers off the pursuit," Jackson said.

But the suspects couldn't shake police, who chased the two cars into Adams County where the suspects crashed and seven people bailed out of the vehicles in the 6600 block of York Street.

More than a dozen Denver officers were joined by Colorado state troopers and Commerce City police in the manhunt across open fields in the semirural industrial area.

"They're on foot — all of them — headed toward the highway," radioed a breathless officer who'd collared one suspect.

"It's impossible to call out (a street name) because it's like farm country over here."

But using a search light, the officer alerted colleagues where four suspects on foot were headed toward a "pen for horses. Set a perimeter up around it quick!"

Jackson said police dogs helped run down the suspects. DPD's helicopter also assisted in the roundup.

The manhunt closed Interstate 270 near York Street for several hours along with highway ramps on Interstates 25 and 76 and U.S. 36. The highways and major roads had reopened by the peak of the morning rush hour.

gathrighta@RockyMountainNews.com

or 303-954-5486

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