Suspect Driver Arrested After Police Pursuit Through Rush Hour
DENVER (CBS4)- An unidentified woman is in custody after picking the wrong vehicle to steal.
The driver stopped for gas, filled up his truck, but then made a mistake. He left the keys inside a pick up as he went to get a cup of coffee. When he came out the truck was speeding away.
On the police radio, a warning, "A yellow '05 F-250, taken one minute ago. Is advising there is a GPS on board. Went northbound."
The woman was apparently in need of some transportation- she didn't grab a yellow cab, but a yellow truck owned by Advanced Traffic.
Copter4 was over the pursuit as she sped through traffic, att times moving into opposite lanes onto oncoming traffic.
It's lawful driver was Dennis Wilkes who uses that truck for traffic operations in such places as Berthoud Pass.
"I started whistling at her, tried to get her to stop and I don't think she even heard me," he said.
Police tracked the truck with the GPS system mounted inside the truck.
Just where she was headed wasn't clear as she made a U-turn on Federal Boulevard heading back the other way.
Then the truck pulls into a Burger King at Federal Boulevard and Evans Avenue where the suspect driver jumped out of the stolen truck and ran to an SUV that appeared to be waiting. She got inside and took off.
But she didn't get too far. The SUV rushed past two Denver police cruisers and promptly became stuck in rush hour traffic where officers were waiting.
They drew their weapons and waited for the suspect driver to exit the vehicle. Two other people were removed from the SUV but were not involved in the initial stolen truck incident.
It is unclear whether they knew the suspect driver, who has not been identified.
CBS4's Rick Sallinger is a Peabody award winning reporter who has been with the station more than two decades doing hard news and investigative reporting. Follow him on Twitter @ricksallinger.