Larimer Deputies Force Stolen Car To Crash, Arrest Driver For Attempted Murder
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (CBS4) -- A 29-year-old man who damaged patrol vehicles and nearly struck deputies while fleeing authorities in a stolen car was arrested at the end of a pursuit in Fort Collins Saturday evening, according to the Larimer County Sheriff's Office.
Joshua Joseph Rendon was ejected from the stolen vehicle after deputies used a tactical maneuver to stop it. Rendon's vehicle rolled. He suffered minor injuries in the incident.
Rendon faces a dozen charges including felonies for vehicle theft, eluding, and attempted assault and attempted murder of a peace officer.
According to an LCSO press release, investigators with the agency's Strategic Enforcement Unit discovered a stolen vehicle in a parking lot near the intersection of South Taft Hill Road and West Elizabeth Street at 5:30 p.m. Four people were inside it.
Those investigators followed the stolen vehicle to an apartment complex parking lot in the 1000 block of Hobbit Street. There, deputies activated emergency lights and tried to pin the stolen vehicle between their cruisers' bumpers.
Rendon escaped by driving forward and in reverse, colliding with the LCSO vehicles and nearly running over a deputy, as stated in the press release.
LCSO personnel quickly called off any pursuit due to the danger that the suspect's erratic driving posed to the rest of the public.
The suspect vehicle was found a short time later and the pursuit was resumed.
With a shove from a law enforcement vehicle, Rendon's vehicle crashed and rolled near West Horsetooth Road and Goodell Lane. Rendon ran from the crash but was captured in the back yard of a residence.
LCSO described Rendon as a transient known to the Fort Collins area.
A passenger in the stolen vehicle, an adult male, was treated at a hospital for minor injuries. He told investigators the remaining two individuals had been dropped off prior to the final pursuit and crash. He was not arrested.
West Horsetooth Road was closed for three and half hours after the incident, per LCSO.