Suspect steals Colorado State Patrol cruiser, crashes and dies of injuries, CSP says

Colorado State Patrol troopers on Tuesday were helping deputies in rural southeastern Colorado in trying to stop a suspect accused of firing shots and crashing their vehicle several times.

As CSP assisted Otero County Deputies, they eventually stopped the suspect, who has not yet been identified, and arrested them. While the suspect was in the back of the CSP cruiser, the suspect was able to get into the front of the car and drove it away.

Troopers and deputies then chased the suspect, now behind the wheel of a fully marked CSP cruiser, down Highway 50. Officers laid out spike strips on the highway, and the suspect struck them, then lost control of the vehicle, crashing into another vehicle that was stopped on the side of the highway.

The CSP cruiser caught fire with the suspect still in it. Troopers and deputies were able to get the suspect out of the car and they were taken to the hospital, but later died of their injuries.

CSP says the Colorado Bureau of Investigation is investigating the theft of the cruiser and subsequent crash and death.

CBS News Colorado requested more information but did not immediately hear back.