Colorado boy safe, trooper injured during 2-hour chase
Posted: Mar 12, 2014 7:44 PM CDT | Updated: Nov 5, 2014 1:52 PM CDT
Denver (KDVR) -- Longmont police issued an Amber Alert for a missing 4-year-old boy Wednesday morning, and released a photo of a man who reportedly stole the vehicle the child was in.
The morning got wild after that.
After the Amber Alert was issued for 4-year-old Allen Chavarria-Rodriquez, SkyFOX immediately found Longmont police were involved in a high-speed chase with the SUV.
That chase, which began in Longmont, included three stolen vehicles, spanned close to 100 miles and lasted almost two hours. It finally ended with the child being found safe and the suspect, identified as Ryan Stone, being apprehended in Douglas County near the intersection of Lincoln Avenue and Peoria Street.
Shortly after the suspect was arrested, the Colorado State Patrol confirmed that one of their troopers was injured in the chase. At a later press conference, it was confirmed that the trooper suffered serious injuries, however, that trooper is expected to make a full recovery.
It appeared, from watching SkyFOX footage, that the injured trooper was hit by the suspect as he was trying to lay a spike strip on C-470 near the South Chambers Road exit.
Though the collision looked violent, the video appeared to show that the trooper was able to jump out of the way of a direct collision with the suspect's speeding vehicle.
Chase began as kidnapping in Longmont
The incident began with Longmont police saying Chavarria-Rodriquez, a 4-year-old, went missing when a red, 2008 Ford Edge SUV was reported stolen around from a Longmont gas station on Main Street around 6:20 a.m.
The woman who owned the vehicle reportedly went in to pay for gas when the suspect stole the vehicle.
The chase began on southbound Interstate 25 heading towards Denver shortly after 6:30 a.m. The suspect was weaving through heavy traffic on the busy interstate, before exiting and continuing on to side streets, often traveling in the wrong lanes.
Around 7:30 a.m., the chase shifted to eastbound lanes on Interstate 76 towards Brighton, where traffic volume was lower.
All of a sudden, around 7:40 a.m., the suspect exited on I-76 and rammed a gold mini van on an off ramp. After doing so, he jumped out of the red SUV and pulled the driver out of the mini van.
A female passenger jumped out of the other side of the vehicle, and the suspect sped away.
Shortly after that, police said Chavarria-Rodriquez was found safe. However, it was not immediately clear if the boy was found in the discarded SUV.
Police were attempting to use spike strips to end the pursuit with the suspect, but by 8 a.m., the chase continued along C-470 headed south.
Shortly after 8 a.m., the suspect exited at South Peoria Street and rammed a silver sedan. He got out of the mini van, apparently trying to steal the sedan, but for whatever reason, got back in the damaged mini van and continued driving on side streets.
Around 8:05 a.m., the suspect approached another silver sedan, and pulled a defiant woman out of the vehicle. The woman tried to prevent him from driving away, but was unable to do so, as the suspect sped away.
Suspect taken into custody in Douglas County
The car chase came to a dramatic conclusion around 8:07 a.m., when suspect flew into the intersection of Lincoln Avenue and Peoria Street, and was T-boned by oncoming traffic. At that point, the high-speed chase ended, and a short foot pursuit ensued.
After trying to hop the fence at a nearby maintenance facility, the suspect fell and surrendered to police around 8:10 a.m.
Douglas County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Tony Spurlock confirmed at a 9:15 a.m. press conference that the named suspect in the case, Stone, had two warrants out for his arrest and was wanted in multiple jurisdictions.
Spurlock also said that the Boulder and Douglas County district attorneys offices were coordinating about the filing of charges, but as of Wednesday morning, Stone was official under arrested and in custody in Douglas County.
Spurlock also confirmed that all of the three carjacking victims were unhurt.
