Read Police1 columnist Duane Wolfe’s analysis of this incident here.
By Kieran Nicholson
The Denver Post
JUNTA, Colo. — The Colorado State Patrol on Wednesday released video of an incident in which a handcuffed suspect stole a CSP patrol vehicle in Otero County before dying in a fiery crash in neighboring Bent County.
The incident unfolded on June 20 when troopers responded to assist deputies with a “suspect fleeing” along U.S. 50 in southeastern Colorado, according to the CSP.
The suspect driver, identified as 31-year-old Anthony Alphonso Sanchez III, allegedly caused multiple crashes, the CSP said in an earlier news release. A trooper was able to bump the suspect vehicle and bring it to a stop, but during an arrest, the suspect stole a marked CSP vehicle and fled.
Video from a patrol vehicle dashcam and troopers’ body-worn cameras shows Sanchez being arrested and a loaded gun recovered from his car. The suspect was handcuffed, with his hands restrained behind his back, and put into the back of a patrol vehicle. Left alone inside the vehicle, Sanchez wiggles his arms, lowering his wrists behind his legs, down to his feet and beyond his toes. His handcuffed wrists wind up in front of his body. He then scrambles into the front seat of the vehicle and drives off.
Authorities pursued Sanchez and stop sticks, devices laid on the roadway to blow out tires, were placed on the highway, according to the CSP. After driving over the stop sticks, the stolen patrol vehicle crashed into a parked commercial vehicle in Bent County and caught on fire. Sanchez was pulled from the patrol vehicle and was taken to a hospital where he died. No other injuries were reported.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation continues to investigate the incident.
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