Standoff next to railroad tracks in Weld County ends, police pull driver out of truck
Law enforcement officers in Weld County on Thursday morning pulled a driver out of a work truck that sideswiped a train. The driver wouldn't leave the car when law enforcement officers first arrived and that led to a lengthy standoff.
It happened close to Highway 85 near the intersection with Highway 104, north of the town of Nunn. Southbound lanes of Highway 85 were blocked during to the situation.
The officers spent a couple of hours outside of the truck trying to convince the driver to come out on his own and using several different tactics before finally pulling him out after breaking a passenger-side door and physically unlocking the car. Copter4 video then showed the officers walking the man who had been handcuffed down the railroad tracks and into a patrol car.
During the whole situation engineers on the train were told to stay away from the windows.
The truck was damaged but it's not clear if the train was.
Officials with the Weld County Sheriff's Office later said the driver was an employee of the Larimer County company that owns the pickup truck. They said he was authorized to use the truck for work purposes but didn't have permission to take it on Thursday morning.
After taking the truck, the sheriff's office says the vehicle was involved in a hit-and-run in Wellington in far northern Colorado. After that the truck left the area and wound up near Nunn where it hit the train at approximately 9:30 a.m. and got stuck on the side of the railroad tracks before officers arrived.
