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Arrests Made After Suspects Shoot Out Car Windows, Flee From Police

LAFAYETTE, Colo. (CBS4) - Three people police say are responsible for a string of crimes that included shooting out multiple car windows in eastern Boulder County are under arrest.

Boulder County crime spree
(credit: CBS)

Late Thursday night police captured the suspects, whose aggressive attempt at escape in a stolen car failed.

Investigators say the suspects shot at 10 different cars on Thursday from vehicles that they stole apparently with a pellet gun or BB guns. No one was injured in the incidents, but most of those cars wound up with shattered windows.

Boulder County crime spree
(credit: CBS)

One car, driven by Leanne Leonhardt, had a small child in the back seat.

"I hope they catch them and prosecute because you know what? You have to have consequences for what you do. And my daughter could have been seriously hurt or killed," Leonhardt told CBS4.

Boulder County crime spree
(credit: CBS)

The pellet or BB shootings took place during the day in the Lafayette, Erie and Longmont, and parked vehicles were targeted in addition to moving ones. Police tried to capture the suspects during the daylight hours but they said several short chases had to be called off due to "dangerous driving by the suspect and the volume of other drivers on the road," according to the Boulder County Sheriff's Office.

Leonhardt's neighbor in Erie was the owner of one of the cars the suspects stole.

"It's scary because they were inside our house, basically. They were inside our garage," said Andy Passen.

Boulder County crime spree
(credit: CBS)

Passen was home when the minivan was taken and he followed it.

"They were going about 100 down Interstate 25 at one point and around 60 to 70 mph on 120th," Passen said.

When he lost sight of his minivan he headed home.

Deputies caught up with the three suspects in Lafayette sometime after 8 p.m. when they got a call about a stolen van in a Walmart parking lot.

Boulder County crime spree
(credit: CBS)

The three people were in the store at Highway 287 and Diamond Circle, so police outside put down stop sticks which flattened the minivan's tires when they pulled out of their parking spot. However, the three suspects still drove about a mile in it, ramming police cruisers in the process, before they bailed out and were caught.

Police tased one of the suspects when he didn't cooperate during the arrest procedures.

The suspects were described as an adult male, a juvenile female and a male whose age wasn't immediately available. Their identities haven't been released.

A GoFundMe page has been set up for the Passen family.

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