Driver in stolen vehicle escapes police blockade, crashes into business, escapes, remains at large in Colorado Springs

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Police continue to look for a man involved in a suspicious incident Saturday morning at the Autozone store in the 2400 block of East Platte Avenue.

Police said that the fire department received a report from a store employee at around 10 a.m. that an unidentified man was sleeping inside a vehicle, with the engine running, parked in front of the entrance.

When officers arrived, they learned that the vehicle was stolen last month from a local dealership by someone who used false identification; the windows are tinted and no one could see inside.

Serena Anderson was among several witnesses who recorded the scene on their smartphones.

"One of the cops had his pistol out already, and he had it just in his hand," she said. "Then I saw a fourth cop car come, and within five minutes three others had come. So there were a total of six there."

Police said that they established a "non-contact block" around the vehicle, in which patrol cars surrounded but didn't touch it; the driver then ignored police orders via loudspeaker to to open his door.

An officer broke through the passenger-side window to see if the driver needed medical help; at that point, the driver reacted and tried to drive away by backing up.

Police said that what Anderson thought was gunfire, was actually the sound of officers breaking the car windows.

"There was no gunfire," said Robert Tornabene, a police spokesman. "We believe the driver was the only one in the vehicle."

According to police, the car broke through a concrete barrier at the front of the store and crashed into a window, and the driver escaped after driving through the blockade and fleeing west on Platte.

Police explained that because the incident is considered a property crime, there was no need to use force to apprehend the driver and it would have been dangerous to engage in a high-speed pursuit.

"Once a suspect starts going back and forth in a vehicle, we're not going to fire at that person," Tornabene explained. "We're not going to do anything to jeopardize someone's life."

Officers said that they believe they will eventually find the man, who faces charges of possession of a stolen vehicle, fleeing and eluding authorities, property damage and assault.