Man flips Blanca Police vehicle with tractor then barricades himself in home
SAN LUIS, Colo. (KRDO) -- A Blanca Police officer is in the hospital after his vehicle was flipped by a man driving a tractor Wednesday evening.
According to the Costilla County Sheriff's Office, reports came in around 6 p.m. about a man with a knife menacing family members at his father's house. Deputies and officers with the Blanca Police Department responded to a home off County Road P, roughly 5 miles away from San Luis.
Once deputies were on the scene, the man fled the house and got on a tractor. Officers chased the suspect through a field. He then tried hitting officers with the tractor while brandishing a knife.
According to a press release from the Costilla County Sheriff's Office, the suspect then proceeded towards the home where he rammed several of his father's vehicles and his father's home. In the process of ramming vehicles, the man flipped a Blanca police vehicle with two officers inside.
One officer was injured and taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The other officer was reportedly uninjured.
The suspect then barricaded himself inside the home. A SWAT team with the Alamosa County Sheriff's office was dispatched. At 1:30 a.m., Alamosa SWAT was able to take the suspect into custody by deploying tear gas in the home.
While barricaded in the home, the suspect lit it on fire.
The man, identified as Cimmaron Mathes, was taken into custody. Mathes faces several charges, including Attempted Murder of a police officer, 1st-degree arson, and several counts of Criminal Mischief.
