Aurora police: Officer was attacked with a meat cleaver

AURORA | Aurora police on Thursday night revealed that the officer attacked early Monday morning, Nov. 30, near I-225 and Alameda Avenue had been assaulted with a meat cleaver.

Police revealed photos of the wooden-handled cleaver — the handle broken from the blade after the attack — to media three days after Tuan Hoang, 25, reportedly got out of a car about 3:45 a.m. Monday morning and attacked an Aurora officer who had stopped to check on the Honda Civic he was in.

Hoang then stole the officer’s cruiser and led police on a high-speed chase through a snowstorm, reaching an estimated 65 mph, along Alameda Avenue, police said. Despite his injuries, the officer was able to give other officers a description of where the attacker went, police said.

Other officers chased the stolen police cruiser east on Alameda and the chase reached speeds of about 65 mph, police said. An officer eventually caught up to the stolen cruiser near East Kentucky Avenue and rammed it, causing it to come to a stop. Officers confronted the man, who police said had a dark object in his hand, and when the man refused to comply with officers’ demands they shot him.

 Another man in the Honda Civic — Garrett Lee Hubbard, 24 — was detained at the off-ramp, police said. He was initially charged with disorderly conduct, but police later dropped the charge to further investigate his involvement in the attack.

 According to Hoang’s Facebook page, he went to Rangeview High School and Pickens Technical College.

According to state records, Hoang had been arrested several times in Colorado on charges including trespassing, marijuana consumption and driving under the influence, but never for a violent crime. His last arrest came in June and appeared to stem from a 2010 trespassing case.

Police said they aren’t sure why Hoang attacked the officer.

As is standard department policy, the two officers who shot Hoang, as well as the officer who was attacked, were placed on administrative reassignment while police investigate the shooting.

According to state records, Hubbard — who also goes by the nicknames “Grim” and “Giggles” — has been arrested several times on charges including burglary and assault. Before Monday’s arrest, his most-recent arrest in Colorado came in 2010 when he was arrested on felony trespassing and contempt of court charges.