Colorado investigators blame suspect for double fatal crash in Clear Creek Canyon

Clear Creek County Sheriff Matthew Harris joined the Idaho Springs Police Chief Nathan Buseck on Thursday morning to provide an update on the double fatal crash in Clear Creek Canyon that happened while authorities were pursuing a suspect. Tuesday's deadly crash claimed the life of the suspect, Christopher Moore, and another driver, Steven Ainsworth, from Arvada.

Harris detailed the events that happened leading up to the crash in the news conference, including an attempted traffic stop initiated by Idaho Springs police officers. He said that while several agencies continue to work on a complete investigation, including reviewing dashcam video and compiling witness statements, he wanted to present the facts gathered so far to the public. 

"In this incident, he was an innocent bystander and did not deserve to die," said Harris when describing how Ainsworth, 51, was struck head-on by Moore. "The suspect, Christopher Moore, also died in the crash."

Harris also described what he called a "history of total disregard for laws" by Moore, who was described as a habitual criminal who was on parole at the time of the crash and being tracked by an ankle monitor. He also said that Moore was believed to be armed at the time with "a firearm that he had stolen from one of the trespassed vehicles."

"Due to the plethora of traffic and criminal violations as well, his driver's license was previously revoked," said Harris. 

Harris said that over time, Moore's charges were minimized or downgraded from felonies to misdemeanors or lumped together with other charges for a plea deal or time served sentences. Most recently, Moore was arrested in Arapahoe County after he allegedly stole a car. This week, investigators said Moore was connected to roughly two dozen vehicle break-ins in Summit County, Eagle County and outside a Georgetown hotel on Tuesday morning.

According to Harris, on Tuesday, when Clear Creek County Sheriff's deputies learned that Moore was in the area of Highway 40 and Floyd Hill, they requested assistance from the Idaho Springs Police Department. 

Harris said that officers followed Moore when he turned onto Highway 6 and pulled over onto the left shoulder. That's when officers tried to conduct a traffic stop, but Moore didn't stop and kept driving westbound. At I-70, Moore entered the eastbound ramp going in the wrong direction, driving west in the eastbound lanes. At that time, Harris said that officers did not follow Moore.

"It's important to note that the pursuit stopped at that time. There was no pursuit going on to the freeway as the freeway was previously closed due to rock scaling," said Harris. 

Harris said after driving the wrong way, Moore turned around and was heading eastbound on I-70 and a deputy prepared to deploy stop sticks on I-70 east and the Highway 6 exit ramp. 

"The suspect was traveling at a significant rate of speed in the center lane and made the decision to go into the exit lane and exited the Highway 6 exit ramp at a high rate of speed," said Harris. 

That's when Harris said that Moore saw the Clear Creek County Sheriff's deputies and Idaho Springs police officers on the ramp and "he made a deliberate and attempted act to drive the vehicle into law enforcement, including a deputy who was standing outside his vehicle."

Harris said Moore did strike stop sticks and drove onto the exit ramp and that police initiated a pursuit based on the driver's actions, "Factor one: the suspect being in imminent and substantial danger to the public and law enforcement. Factor two: he was driving the wrong way on the interstate. Factor three: he intentionally drove his vehicle at a high rate of speed towards an unprotected deputy and marked patrol vehicles with lights and sirens. and factor four: he was considered to be armed and dangerous." 

During the pursuit, Moore crossed the center line and crashed head-on into the black Lexus Ainsworth was driving. That vehicle wound up upside down in Clear Creek after the collision.

A 27-year-old woman in the passenger seat of Moore's car was also badly injured and taken to the hospital. 

Harris said that, of course, the Clear Creek County Sheriff's Office is going to look at the policies they have in place regarding pursuits and that they will try to get better, "But the bottom line is the suspect and his background and his total disregard for human life and disregard for our deputies, put himself and everybody else in danger."

Buseck also talked about reviewing policies with regards to police pursuits, and referred to the sequence of events leading up to the pursuit, "Once the person came back at a high rate of speed and had open highway in front of them and chose to leave the highway at the exit where there's emergency vehicles, drive directly towards a deputy that's standing there with spike strips and at officers, that the risk level was high for the general public, and so policy at this point, we're going to review that, but it appears that it was followed as far as imminent risk to the public."

The Clear Creek County Sheriff's Office and the Idaho Springs Police Department said they will be conducting internal investigations into the incident involving Moore, along with the other crimes he is suspected of. The Colorado State Patrol is investigating the deadly crash on Highway 6.