Denver authorities identify motorist who committed suicide
By Alan Gathright, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published August 14, 2008 at 5:29 p.m.
A motorist who killed himself Monday after fleeing a police traffic stop has been identified as a 37-year-old Adams County man.
Police said Ian Theodore Rendon fled briefly in a black Audi Monday morning after a patrol officer tried to stop him for a routine traffic violation on West Sixth Avenue near Wadsworth Boulevard.
The officer found the car abandoned and spotted Rendon on foot holding a gun a half-mile down the road, police said.
Suddenly, Rendon shot himself in the head, police said. The incident closed the busy thoroughfare for three hours.
The Denver coroner ruled the death a suicide.
Police spokesman Sonny Jackson said authorities won't speculate on why the man took his life.
Rendon had a history of arrests for assault, theft and weapons violations, according to state court records.
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