Colorado Springs, Colorado Carjacking Suspect Arrested After Pueblo County Pursuit

A driver who stopped to help after a crash in Colorado Springs, Colorado lost his own SUV at gunpoint early on Saturday, Nov. 7, and the man accused of taking it was arrested after a pursuit that ended south of Pueblo, police and troopers said.

Colorado Springs police were called just before 5 a.m. on Nov. 7 to a report of an armed carjacking on Lake Avenue. Officers learned that an unknown driver had crashed his vehicle in the eastbound lane of Lake Avenue, according to the department incident report carried by the Pueblo Chieftain. A passing motorist stopped to assist, and the crashed driver stole his vehicle at gunpoint. The stolen vehicle was a blue BMW X1 SUV, last seen heading east on Lake Avenue.

The pursuit south

Officers searched the area but did not find the suspect or the BMW. Colorado Springs police contacted the Colorado State Patrol and asked troopers to watch for the vehicle. Troopers later located the BMW traveling east on Colorado Highway 165, east of Colorado City.

The vehicle then turned onto Interstate 25 and traveled south at high speed before turning around and traveling north from milepost 65, north of Walsenburg, state patrol officials said in a news release. The Pueblo County Sheriff's Office assisted. A deputy deployed stop sticks at milepost 77, north of Colorado City. Troopers then used a Tactical Vehicle Intervention at milepost 98, in the area of south Pueblo, and took the driver into custody at gunpoint. Denver Focal, reporting the same state patrol account on Monday, said the pursuit ended without reported injuries to the public.

The charges ahead

Troopers identified the driver as Reggie Clark, 36, of Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was arrested on suspicion of vehicular eluding and driving a motor vehicle on a suspended license, and booked into the Pueblo County Jail. He was being held on a $50,000 cash, surety or property bond as of Monday, Nov. 9.

Those are the pursuit charges. A Colorado Springs police spokesperson told the Chieftain on Monday that the department was preparing to charge Clark with aggravated robbery, motor vehicle theft, menacing with a deadly weapon and possibly other offenses tied to the carjacking itself. Police have not reported any injury to the motorist who stopped to help.

The case is a hard one for Colorado Springs drivers to read, because it began with a stranger stopping to help at a crash scene before dawn. Police accounts say the help was answered with a gun and a stolen SUV, and that three agencies, Colorado Springs police, the state patrol and Pueblo County deputies, worked together to end the pursuit about 50 miles south of the city.