AURORA | What began as shoplifting incident at an Aurora Home Depot turned into a car-jacking and a wild chase into Denver on nearby rush-hour interstates, at one time going the wrong way.
Aurora police said a security guard was trying to stop a suspected shoplifter at the Home Depot at East Mississippi Avenue and Abilene Street at about 5 p.m. Tuesday. The suspect, later identified as Grant Lee to 9News, brandished a knife and carjacked a gold minivan.
Police almost immediately caught up with Lee as he sped south on I-225 toward Denver, weaving through heavy rush-hour traffic and sometimes driving on the shoulder.
Lee then exited on Hampden Avenue, sped westbound to Glencoe, then back to I-25. He eventually tried to get back on the jammed highway at Evans, driving south, the wrong way. He got stuck with police right behind him and tried to car-jack other motorists. There the man was tazed twice by police and captured by Aurora and Denver police, police said.
The chase lasted about 10 minutes. Police said no one from the public nor officers were injured during the chase. Witnesses in Denver called police to say that the Aurora officer struck their cars in southeast Denver near Ivy Way and Hampden Avenue during the chase.
Lee was rushed to Denver General Hospital after one officer said the man appeared to suffer some type of “drug induced” seizure, according to scanner broadcasts.