Colorado felon dies days after fleeing police in stolen vehicle, crashing

Doctors declared a 33-year-old Greeley man clinically brain dead Thursday and removed him from life support four days after he suffered critical injuries while trying to avoid arrest. 

Jose Sambrano passed away shortly after family members made the decision in light of his poor diagnosis. Sambrano had been in the intensive care unit of a local hospital since the previous Sunday when he ran a red light in a stolen truck and collided with another vehicle.

Seconds before that collision, Sambrano had allegedly fled from a Greeley Police officer who identified the stolen truck and tried to pull Sambrano over, the department stated in a press release.

The red 1998 Dodge 1500 pickup was reported stolen by its owner Sunday evening. The owner was dragged by his vehicle as Sambrano drove away with it and suffered serious injuries, according to Greeley PD.

Four hours later, Sambrano resisted the officer's attempted traffic stop and drove into the intersection at 8th Avenue and 20th Street "at a high rate of speed," as stated in GPD's press release. The stolen Dodge collided with a Cadillac SUV that was traveling on 20th Street, per GPD's description. A man, woman, and child were inside that SUV. All three were injured and taken to a hospital. All are expected to fully recover. 

It was later discovered Sambrano was believed to be responsible for the burglary of a home in the 2200 block of 8th Avenue that occurred just before the attempted traffic stop and that had not yet been reported to police. That homeowner was present during the burglary but was unharmed, per police.

A search of online criminal records shows Sambrano had 25 traffic, misdemeanor and felony cases since 2009. He was previously convicted as a habitual traffic offender was sentenced two years ago to time in the Colorado Department of Corrections on a felony trespass. Sambrano was arrested 10 days before the fatal accident on a theft charge.