A 37-year-old man who sped away from Denver police after they noticed his gray Dodge Intrepid lacked license plates Sunday evening seconds later became involved in a fatal crash that killed a woman and left two other people hospitalized.
The man then bolted from his bashed-up Dodge, police said at the scene around the intersection of West 1st Avenue and Knox Street. He ran eastward for more than 50 yards toward a New Hope Ministries church where worship was about to begin.
Police who were moving along 1st Avenue caught him there and took him into custody, said Sgt. Michael Farr, the Denver Police traffic investigations supervisor.
“He ran the wrong way, thankfully,” Farr said.
A dozen Denver police vehicles and an ambulance converged on the scene in southwest Denver around 5:30 p.m.
The woman riding in a rear seat of a red Honda sedan died at the scene of the collision, in front of a 7-Eleven, within a few feet of gas pumps. The driver of the crumpled Honda was able to walk despite serious injuries, police said. Paramedics found the passenger in critical condition. Both were hospitalized Sunday night.
At the scene, investigators placed markers, took measurements and interviewed witnesses, trying to put together details of the crash.
Police officers about five blocks to the east, near Federal Boulevard, had spotted the Dodge, noticing it lacked license plates, Farr said. They put on their lights “and tried to make a stop,” he said.
But the driver responded by taking off “at a high rate of speed. The police officers disengaged. Our chase policies do not permit us to pursue for traffic charges,” Farr said.
A dozen Denver police vehicles converged at the scene. Shop clerks shook their heads, going about their work, saying they heard a loud bang before the flashing lights and knew that somebody died.
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