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Off-duty Pueblo officer and good samaritans catch suspect in fatal hit and run

fatal hit and run

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- It's Tuesday around noon, Officer Lowell Griffiths with the Pueblo Police Department is headed home after a court appearance. Griffiths works the graveyard shift and has a few hours to spend with family until he has to check-in again for work.

Driving northbound on Elizabeth Street across U.S. Highway 50, Griffiths spots debris along the road. Moments later -- he spots a body. A man is bleeding to death on the side of the road.

"They always told us be prepared for it," says Officer Griffiths. "I don't think I was necessarily prepared."

Griffiths had unknowingly rolled up on the scene of a fatal auto-pedestrian accident. Patrick J Rodrigues, a 52-year old Black Hills Energy employee, died Tuesday after being struck by a vehicle while doing his job on the sidewalk along Elizabeth Street, just north of U.S. Hwy 50.

After spotting Rodrigues, Griffiths stepped out to assist.

"That's when I saw another individual come out of a vehicle where the car had crashed, and began running away from the scene across the street," said Griffiths.

That man turned out to be Jarret Clark Bragg, 21, who is now in police custody. He had crashed into a culvert nearby after allegedly hitting Rodrigues and tried running away on foot.

He made it across the street to the Clarion Inn where he attempted to catch a ride to flee the scene.

Griffith says he approached the suspect and told him he was an off-duty officer before ordering him to stay put. That's when the Bragg attempted to flee again.

With the help of several good samaritans, Griffiths was able to subdue the suspect until on-duty officers arrived.

"It was the right thing to do," said Brad Thompson, one of the good samaritans that helped subdue Bragg on Tuesday. "I saw the man (Rodrigues) was dying and he (Bragg) had to answer for what he had done."

Thompson was heading towards the nearby Dunkin Donuts when Bragg allegedly fled the scene. The Army Veteran used his belt to restrain Bragg's hands until an off-duty security guard came over with a pair of cuffs.

"There were a lot of people there a lot of local citizens here in Pueblo that were there helping out," said Officer Griffiths. "They deserve as much credit as I am getting right now."

Bragg faces a slew of charges, including careless driving resulting in death and fleeing the scene of an accident resulting in death.

If a toxicology report finds that drugs or alcohol were in his system, more charges could be coming down as well.

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Dan Beedie

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