DA: Larimer County deputy justified in vehicle pursuit that left suspect injured
District Attorney Gordon McLaughlin determined a Larimer County Sheriff's Office deputy was justified in his decision to execute a forcible driving maneuver to stop a fleeing suspect in September.
The male suspect was seriously injured during the incident, and the extent of his injuries prompted an external investigation by the 8th Judicial District Critical Incident Response Team. In reviewing the investigation, McLaughlin decided "the circumstances Larimer County deputies faced" justified their actions, according to the letter published by the district attorney's office Thursday afternoon.
The man who was injured has been charged for allegedly fleeing from deputies, according to the letter.
The afternoon of Sept. 14, Boulder police requested assistance from Larimer County Sheriff's Office in helping them arrest a man with several outstanding warrants, according to McLaughlin's letter.
Previous coverage:Suspect pursued by Larimer County sheriff's deputies injured in stop near I-25
The man was found sitting in his van that was parked in the Motel 6 parking lot at 3900 E. Mulberry St. in east Fort Collins. Deputies parked their patrol vehicles in a "V" formation in an attempt to block the man from fleeing before approaching the man's van on foot, according to McLaughlin's letter.
In a deputy's body camera footage McLaughlin said he reviewed, the man appeared to comply with deputies and get out of the car, but then he "jumped back into the driver's seat and closed the door and held it shut," McLaughlin wrote.
The man then reportedly tried to flee and ended up crashing into the passenger side of one of the patrol vehicles, allegedly causing an estimated $1,700 in damage, McLaughlin said. Investigators say the man then drove over the curb and sped away.
Law enforcement said the man left the parking lot and headed north on the Frontage Road on the west side of Interstate 25. The deputy whose vehicle the man crashed into pursued him, and his body camera footage shows the man passing a tractor-trailer on the wrong side of the road while driving recklessly, McLaughlin said.
The deputy then performed the Precision Immobilization Technique — also referred to as a PIT maneuver — which McLaughlin describes in his letter as "a dynamic police tactic that is used to bring a potentially dangerous vehicle pursuit to an end by engaging/contacting the pursued vehicle with a police vehicle to accomplish a forced rotational stop of the pursued vehicle."
After the PIT maneuver, the man's van turned, slid sideways and rolled, landing on its wheels just north of Atlas Meat Co., 4020 John Deere Drive, less than half of a mile from where the pursuit began. The van was significantly damaged in the incident, McLaughlin said.
McLaughlin said he did not receive information on how fast the suspect's vehicle was going, but based on the speed of the deputy's vehicle and surveillance footage from Atlas Meat Co., he estimates the suspect was driving at least 80 mph.
The man had minor visible injuries immediately after getting out of the van and being arrested by officers, McLaughlin said, but at one point an on-scene deputy reported that it appeared he was losing consciousness. An evaluation at the hospital revealed the man's injuries met the legal definition of "serious bodily injury," which prompted the CIRT investigation.
The man was discharged from the hospital and taken into custody at the Larimer County Jail two days later, on Sept. 16.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Larimer County deputy justified in vehicle chase that injured suspect
