Tyler Hazell Accused Of Hit-And-Run Spree Across Denver Metro Area
DENVER (CBS4) - Denver police shared more information about a series of hit and runs in downtown Denver on Saturday. They say two police patrol vehicles were hit, and both were occupied near 14th Avenue and Delaware Street.
A police officer and a prisoner were in one of the patrol vehicles. Another officer was in the second patrol vehicle. All suffered minor injuries and are expected to be okay.
A pedestrian was also hit near 14th Avenue and Broadway. Police say that person suffered serious leg injuries.
Police identified the driver as 23-year-old Tyler Hazell. He was arrested in Adams County shortly after the crashes in Denver.
Copter4 flew over the dramatic scene. At least a dozen law enforcement vehicles, from various agencies, responded to Highway 2 and Quebec Parkway northwest of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal.
While some officers blocked northbound traffic, several other officers blocked southbound lanes a few hundred feet further north on Highway. The officers were seen with their weapons drawn, pointed at a silver Honda SUV.
The driver was still inside. Moments later, officers walked up to the vehicle with a K9. After opening the driver's door, they released the K9 on Hazell.
Then, officers were seen pulling the driver out of the vehicle and onto the ground. Hazell was taken into custody.
The SUV had front end damage.
In police documents, officers say they responded to a disturbance at a Burger King between employees and Hazell on West Colfax Avenue at around 8:30 a.m. on Saturday.
They say he drove away before officers arrived. Hazell reportedly drove westbound to Delaware Street and then reversed, going the wrong way, until he was beside a Honda Civic.
Investigators say Hazell rolled his window down and told the people inside, "Race me or die."
When the driver made a U-turn, police say Hazell followed them and rammed the back and side of the car several times and then drove away.
Then, Hazell, while driving eastbound on Colfax Ave., tried to run over two men in a sidewalk. While they ran away from the vehicle, Hazell, police say, chased one of them with his car and hit him.
Before hitting the two police vehicles on Delaware St., police say Hazell drove the wrong way on 14th Avenue, got out of the car to high five a homeless man and then got back in the car.
Following that string of incidents, police say Hazell went back to the Burger King on Colfax Ave. and rammed a parked truck which was unoccupied. An officer at the scene tried to stop him, but Hazell drove away.
Investigators say Hazell "continued his rampage" in other jurisdictions until his car stopped running on Highway 2. He was arrested on assault charges and an outstanding felony warrant for domestic violence which, according to court documents, occurred on Saturday morning.
Hazell's mugshot has not been released. He is expected in court on Monday.
