Carjacking Crime Spree Ends In Arrest
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - A man is in custody after a dangerous crime spree stretching over seven hours Saturday morning.
After a carjacking and kidnapping along with two armed robberies, the suspect, whose identity is unknown, committed a home invasion to try to steal another car, deputies said.
"Honestly, it's terrifying," said Brooke Edwards, who lives in a Lakewood apartment complex near Kipling Parkway and Morrison Road.
Her neighbor was the victim of a carjacking just after 4am Saturday. Authorities said a man approached the victim as he was getting into his car to leave for work, when the suspect approached him at gunpoint and demanded that he drive the suspect to downtown Denver.
"Being further away from the city, you don't expect that sort of thing. Especially a carjacking," said David Johnson, another concerned resident who lives in Jefferson County.
Amazingly, the victim, a 27-year-old gas station employee, was able to convince the armed suspect to let him turn the car around so that he could get out at the Conoco gas station where he works just blocks away from his home.
"(He) told the suspect, 'if you just let me off at work, you can have my car," said Mark Techmeyer, a spokesman for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. "And the suspect said, 'sure.'"
The victim went inside the gas station and called 9-1-1 at 4:54 a.m., Techmeyer said.
The suspect continued on in the victim's stolen red Nissan, driving southbound to a CVS pharmacy.
When the business doors opened at 9 a.m., the suspect, flashing his handgun, jumped over the pharmacy counter and stole prescription narcotics.
About two hours later, the crime spree continued at Bank of the West on Kipling Parkway and West Chatfield Avenue where the gunman robbed a bank teller, authorities said.
Less than 30-minutes later, the brazen thief broke into a home just west of the bank to try to steal another car from the resident inside, Techmeyer said.
Fortunately, the resident was able to escape uninjured. The suspect was unsuccessful in stealing a second vehicle.
The home invasion victim ran to the home of a neighbor and called 9-1-1.
Officers located the man, who had run off, about a block away from the home.
Techmeyer said that as soon as the suspect saw officers approaching, he began consuming as much of the stolen narcotics as he could.
Authorities took the man to a hospital and said he was not being cooperative in providing his identity.
After being released from the hospital, officers will transport the suspect to the Jefferson County Jail.
He is expected to appear at a first advisement hearing at the Jefferson County Courthouse on Monday at 10 a.m. facing multiple charges.
Melissa Garcia has been reporting for CBS4 News since March 2014. Find her bio here, follow her on Twitter @MelissaGarciaTV, or send your story idea to mkgarcia@cbs.com.
