The Aurora Police Department arrested a Lakewood man on suspicion of attempted murder Wednesday morning after he allegedly shot at police, but two other suspects remain at-large.
Officers responded to a felony menacing call near 32nd Avenue and 32nd Place around 1:30 a.m. The caller reported that they had been assaulted at gunpoint by two people, the department said in a press conference Wednesday afternoon.
Upon arrival, officers spotted the suspects' vehicle — a small red pickup truck —going eastbound on Colfax Avenue.
Police followed the vehicle onto southbound Interstate 225 when a white truck, driven by Wallace, began to block officers from the red truck, according to police.
Officers received confirmation that the two were to be apprehended on suspicion of felony menacing, allowing police to pursue via the Aurora Police Department's new policy.
In the new policy, established on March 10, officers are allowed to pursue suspect vehicles in which the driver is suspected of being under the influence of drugs and alcohol, driving a stolen vehicle, or committing a felony or a crime with a gun.
As the officers pursued the red truck on southbound Interstate 225, a white truck pulled in between the two, disrupting the chase, police said.
The driver of the white truck — later identified as 31-year-old Aaron Wallace — allegedly threw items out of the truck at police. Police said the items were thought to be tools.
Wallace then allegedly fired three rounds at the police vehicles, police said. No one was injured.
Police focused attention on Wallace's truck, performing a PIT maneuver and flipping the truck onto its side near Arapahoe Road. Wallace and a 21-year-old woman then fled the truck.
The red truck with the initial suspects got away.
A 40-caliber gun with a high-capacity magazine was recovered from the scene and the two suspects were eventually apprehended, police said.
Both Wallace and the woman were taken to a nearby hospital with minor injuries. The woman cooperated with the investigation and will not be arrested or charged, police said.
Wallace will face a "minimum" of attempted first-degree murder charges, said Cmmdr. Marc Paolino of the Investigations Bureau. More charges are likely to come from the district attorney's office after investigations, he added.
Wallace is currently on probation out of Arapahoe County for a weapons violation. Police said he also had an active warrant for his arrest.
The relationship between Wallace and the driver of the red truck is currently unknown.
The department's Crime Gun Intelligence Unit is leading the investigation into the initial crime, while the Major Crime Homicide Unit will be looking into the officers' use of force in the PIT maneuver and the Internal Investigations Bureau will look into administrative practices and policy compliance, Paolino said.
"Our pursuit policy had nothing to do in terms of how we responded to this particular incident," said Kevin Barnes, chief of the Patrol Division, noting that the officers would have responded the same way prior to the change in policy earlier this month.
"We believe in our officers and their efforts," Barnes said. "They are extremely confident. Regardless of what we ask of those individuals, they consistently set the bar and rise to the occasion."
Wallace is due in Denver District Court on a different case on April 4.
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