Colorado officers arrest man after reckless drive through Rocky Mountain National Park

Northern Colorado authorities arrested an apparent burglary suspect who drove recklessly from one end of Rocky Mountain National Park to the other and caused a serious car crash on the Estes Park side. Officials from the National Park Service said the suspect is a 23-year-old and he was last seen running into a neighborhood on Sunday.

A photojournalist with CBS News Colorado witnessed the suspect's arrest on Monday morning on the High Drive area outside of the national park. According to Rocky Mountain National Park officials, the suspect has been identified as Wayde Thyfault from Hudson. 

Park staff at the park's western entrance tried to pull over the man in the afternoon after he was speeding and went through the Grand Lake entrance. The driver didn't slow down, instead beginning to pass other drivers and continuing to speed as he drove on Trail Ridge Road, the only continuous road through the national park. A short chase was called off because of the dangerous nature of the car's driving.  

Sometime later, on the eastern side of the park, law enforcement officers were waiting and tried to slow the car down near the Deer Mountain Trailhead -- where Highway 34 and Highway 36 meet -- as well as at the Beaver Meadows entrance. They used stopsticks near the entrance. Soon afterward, just past the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center, the car collided with another car that had three people inside. All three were injured and the injuries to one of the people inside were described as critical.

The driver may also have been hurt, park officials said. They say after the crash he ran into an area where there are houses on High Drive in Estes Park. Late on Sunday officials sent out a news release saying that was the last time he was seen by anyone. A shelter-in-place order that was put into effect while police searched for the man in that part of Estes Park was lifted early Monday morning.

The national park news release stated that the man is believed to be wanted in an unsolved Grand County burglary case.