WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. — Wheat Ridge police have referred aggravated motor vehicle theft, vehicular assault, theft and traffic-related charges against a man accused in a truck theft that led to multiple hit-and-run crashes and injuries in October.
The Wheat Ridge Police Department said Jose Merino-Ramos, 22, stole an arborist's work truck that was attached to a trailer hauling expensive equipment from outside the arborist's Wheat Ridge home.
The video above aired on Oct. 17.
The victim tried to stop the theft by jumping on the hood of the truck but was thrown off, according to police, and Merino-Ramos drove off with his getaway vehicle, a Cadillac Escalade, behind it.
Police said Merino-Ramos hit several occupied vehicles while driving away, including a Toyota Highlander. The driver of that SUV got out, according to police, and Merino-Ramos hit her with the truck, briefly pinning her against another vehicle.
She was seriously injured but still managed to roll out of the way of the truck and got into the trailer it was pulling.
Merino-Ramos kept going for another few blocks, then abandoned the truck with the victim still in the trailer and got into the passenger side of the Escalade.
Detectives identified Merino-Ramos through DNA evidence recovered from the stolen truck. The woman driving the Escalade has still not been identified.
Police said Merino-Ramos is currently in jail in Denver on unrelated charges.
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