JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — A man with multiple prior convictions is now charged with 12 counts including menacing, robbery, and assault for shooting a woman in the chin and stealing her car and then pointing his gun at officers as they pursued him through a public park.
Matthew Erik Lowderback, 34, is suspected of crimes that happened over two days in the Lakewood, Denver and Littleton area.
Lakewood Police Department (LPD) said officers responded to a 911 call on April 9 at 10 p.m. to 1615 Pierson St. in reference to a shooting. Witnesses said they heard a male and female arguing, followed by a single gunshot.
Witnesses said the woman suffered a gunshot wound to the face. They said the woman was with a man, who told them they didn't need help. The man said he was taking the woman to the hospital and drove off in a black Jaguar SUV, said witnesses.
Officers spotted and tried to stop a Jaguar matching the description of the SUV. Police stopped the pursuit after the SUV reached speeds over 110 miles per hour and officers determined it unsafe and a danger to the public.
The woman who was shot was later found outside an ambulance bay at St. Luke's Presbyterian Medical Center in Denver. She was transferred to Denver Health where she was treated for a gunshot wound to the chin.
When police interviewed the victim she initially didn't want to say who shot her, but eventually did. She reported that she and Lowderback had been drinking inside her apartment and she wanted to leave to visit a friend. She said Lowderback didn't want her to leave which resulted in a verbal argument. The situation escalated into Lowderback smashing her phone and hitting her with a laptop, the affidavit says. The woman said she hid from Lowderback in the bathroom but he broke down the bathroom door and so she hid in her bedroom closet and armed herself with a pistol, according to the document.
When Lowderback broke the closet door, she said she pointed the gun at him in self-defense, the affidavit says. The two then fought over the gun and Lowderback was able to take it from her.
She told police that she ran out to the balcony and that Lowderback shot her through the glass door. When investigators searched the apartment, they found damage that supported the victim's version of events which included damage to the bathroom and closet doors consistent with them recently being kicked in and a shattered glass door leading to the balcony.
An investigation later revealed the Jaguar belonged to the woman who was shot and that the male suspect, Lowderback, stole the SUV after leaving the woman at the hospital. It was later found abandoned on Lafayette Street in Denver.
In a separate incident on April 10, the Denver Police responded to a disturbance involving Lowderback, who was the passenger in a car and armed with a gun.
Officers stopped the car at South Lowell Boulevard and West Bowles Avenue and Lowderback ran into Clement Park with the gun.
Officers fired at Lowderback who continued to run through the public park. Police said Lowderback pointed his gun at officers chasing him and they fired at him again. They took him into custody when he fell and he was taken to Littleton Hospital for treatment.
After his release from the hospital, Lowderback was booked into the Jefferson County Jail. He is on a $1 million cash-only bond.
He is charged with criminal attempt to commit murder in the first degree, assault in the first degree, two counts of robbery, aggravated motor vehicle theft in the first degree, vehicular eluding, three counts of menacing, possession of a weapon by a previous offender and two counts of crime of violence.
These charges are in addition to previous charges for second-degree assault and strangulation out of Weld County.
According to the affidavit, Lowderback has a long criminal record which includes convictions in 2008, 2010, 2015 and 2019, for which he was sentenced to time in the Department of Corrections.
He has prior arrests for charges of assault, child abuse, domestic violence, kidnapping, harassment and aggravated motor vehicle theft. At the time of the incident, he was wanted on a warrant for a prior incident related to the victim in this case.
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