By Jennifer Brown, Staff Writer
Copyright 2007 Denver Post
Denver, Colo. -- The driver of a getaway pickup that got stuck in snow on an unplowed dead-end street was shot and killed by a Lakewood police officer Saturday after another officer slipped under the truck, police said.
With one officer lying in the snow, the second officer fired one shot at the driver, who was spinning the tires and rocking the vehicle forward and backward to try to get it moving.
The driver and a passenger, whose names were not released, were allegedly trying to steal a trailer when someone near the 1200 block of South Ammons Street called police, said Steve Davis, a Lakewood Police Department public information officer.
The two men sped away from patrol cars but got stuck in the snow a few blocks away.
The officer who cornered the men walked up to the truck and somehow ended up under the vehicle. It was unclear how this happened; both men were still in the cab, Davis said.
A second officer arrived and, fearing the truck would drive over his downed colleague, fired one round, killing the driver, Davis said.
The passenger, who was taken into custody, had not been charged with a crime late Saturday.
A Jefferson County “shoot team,” made up of law enforcement officers from several county agencies, was investigating the shooting, Davis said.
The names of the officers, who were placed on administrative leave, were not released.