Teen Driver Arrested After Crash, Chase

It was the worst time for a possibly armed suspect to run through a neighborhood — at the start of the school day as students arrived for classes.

On Friday morning, Taylor Elementary School, North Middle School and the School District 11 administration office were on lockdown while Colorado Springs police searched for a juvenile who ran from a traffic crash.

It happened shortly before 7 a.m. at the intersection of Institute and Cache La Poudre streets, police said. Officers said a car containing a 17-year-old male driver and a 16-year-old male passenger sideswiped two vehicles before crashing into a truck. No information was available about whether anyone was in the truck.

Police said the driver ran from the scene, and they tried to contain the area to find him. Officers said they found him after a 90-minute search and used a Taser to subdue him on Arcadia Street, just south of Taylor School.

“The suspect was holding something in his waistband, and we found a 45-caliber round at the scene,” said police Sgt. Rob Kelley. “So we thought he (was) armed, but we didn’t find a gun.”

Kelley said police were investigating whether the suspect burglarized a home while he was on the run. Early Friday afternoon, a woman approached a KRDO Newschannel 13 crew during an interview and confirmed that someone had indeed broken into her home.

“The police called me and said they had good news, that they found my computer,” said the woman, who requested anonymity. “I said that my computer is in my kitchen. But it wasn’t.”

Witnesses said the passenger in the car crash was taken to a hospital.

“They were loading (him) up on a gurney,” said neighbor Patricia Brandt. “He was moaning and groaning, and they were cutting his clothes off.”

Brandt said she heard an officer say the car was stolen from Pueblo, but police hadn’t confirmed that as of Friday evening.

Police said they arrested the suspect on suspicion of leaving the scene of an accident.