By Police1 Staff
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. — Police released video of a May 22 foot pursuit that ended with the drowning of the suspect.
According to the Steamboat Today, police responded to disturbance at a bar and found Arman “Jack” Qureshi, 22, intoxicated in an alley. A woman told police Qureshi was inside the bar and took a woman’s jacket with her belongings inside. His roommate and parents said Qureshi could have thought the jacket was his.
When the woman approached him, he grabbed the jacket and fled to the alley where two men confronted him. Bar employees called police when they saw the disturbance behind the building, the publication reported.
Police were attempting to arrest Qureshi and decided he needed to be medically cleared. As he walked toward the ambulance, he then broke into a sprint and fled police.
Officer Jeff Malchow pursued him and discovered Qureshi had crawled into a river. He noticed him making noises clinging to rocks and told him “you’re going to kill yourself for a misdemeanor. Come on. Take my hand.”
Malchow took off his gear and entered the river in an attempt to save Qureshi. He briefly had a hold of him until Qureshi pushed back into the river.
Qureshi was discovered further down the river face down without a shirt. Firefighters attempted to grab him, but were unsuccessful. His body was recovered the following day near a local golf club.
His roommates said he would drink up to 1.75 liters of vodka a day and had used drugs. They had spoken to him about getting help, but he was unresponsive, the publication reported.
An investigation is ongoing.