OTERO COUNTY, Colo. — The Colorado State Patrol on Wednesday released video footage related to a deadly crash and pursuit in eastern Colorado that happened after a man stole a patrol vehicle during a traffic stop.
Troopers said that just before 11 a.m. June 20 that they were called to help Otero County Sheriff's deputies, who were chasing a suspect on Highway 50 in Otero County.
The vehicle was reportedly called in as a "shots fired" call. In addition, the suspect was reported to have caused multiple crashes and attempted to cause head-on crashes with other vehicles, CSP said.
Troopers performed a tactical vehicle intervention (TVI) that stopped the vehicle, and law enforcement took the suspect into custody.
Video footage released Wednesday shows the suspect being placed into the back seat of the patrol car with his hands cuffed behind his back. After a little bit, he's able to stand up and step over his handcuffed hands so they're no longer behind his back. It's clear from the video he is still wearing at least one of the cuffs.
"We don't see that very often, but this is not the first time," said Col. Matthew C. Packard, chief of the Colorado State Patrol, at a news conference Wednesday. "It's based on the suspect's flexibility and physical ability to do that. But again it's not the first time we've seen that happen."
The suspect is then seen on the video sliding head-first through an opening and into the front seat. Seconds later, the car moves forward. Packard said the suspect was in the car for just 90 seconds before he maneuvered into the front seat and drove away.
In body camera footage, a CSP trooper is heard saying the suspect must have crawled through his center window and noted that his rifle was in the vehicle when the suspect stole it.
Agencies on the scene pursued the suspect in the stolen vehicle at speeds of more than 100 miles per hour. The chase lasted 21 minutes and covered 37 miles before troopers deployed stop sticks on Highway 50.
After hitting the stop sticks, the suspect in the patrol vehicle lost control and crashed into the side of a stopped commercial motor vehicle parked on the side of Highway 50, causing his car to catch on fire.
The suspect, identified as Anthony Sanchez III, was taken to the hospital after the crash and later died from his injuries. The truck driver was not injured.
The investigation is still ongoing. CSP said it's too early to tell what if any changes might need to be made.
"The process we're looking at now is what actions did our members take? And if those actions were in accordance with training and policy and if they were do we need to update that training or policy? Do we need to look at equipment to change things?" Packard said.
He said CSP will look specifically at the vehicle theft device and whether it was used, defeated or possibly malfunctioned. Packard said they would also look into the stop-stick deployment.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation will be the lead agency in the investigation.
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