AURORA | Details slowly trickled out this week about an early Monday morning incident where police say a man attacked an officer, stole the officer’s police cruiser and led police on a high-speed chase before police fatally shot him.
The Arapahoe County coroner’s office identified the man shot by police as Tuan Hoang, 25.
Hoang, who lived in Aurora, assaulted an officer before stealing the officer’s car and leading police on a chase that reached 65 mph in the middle of a snowstorm, police said.
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 also dropped a disorderly conduct charge against a man who was in a car with Hoang when police say Hoang attacked an officer.
Police said in a statement that they dropped the charge against Garnett Lee Hubbard, 24, so they could further investigate his involvement in Monday’s incident.
“This dismissal does not prevent charges being brought against Hubbard in the future, if appropriate,” the statement read.
The incident started around 3:45 a.m. when an officer stopped what he thought was a stalled car on an exit ramp from I-225 to Alameda. Police said after the officer spoke to the driver of the Honda Civic, someone in the car climbed out and attacked the officer while the officer was walking back to his patrol unit.
The man sliced the officer’s head, police said. The officer is expected to survive his injuries and police said he fired one shot at the man before the man fled in the police cruiser. The officer’s name has not been released.
Despite his injuries, the officer was able to give other officers a description of where the attacker went, police said. Hubbard was detained at the off-ramp, 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.
Police said they aren’t sure why the man 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 name Garrett Hubbard and 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.