A 29-year-old man has been jailed after an alleged salvage yard burglary Wednesday morning that led to suspects ramming a patrol vehicle and a 15-mile chase across south metro Denver with shots fired at police, ending at a park near Cherry Creek High School.
Five or six shots were fired during the chase, Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly said. The suspect – Brenton Zeiler of Aurora – gave up after a standoff in the Village Greens Park in Greenwood Village. Deputies recovered a 9 mm pistol with a 32-round magazine that had been tossed over a fence.
Zeiler is expected to be charged with attempted murder, Weekly told reporters at the scene. Douglas County Sheriff’s deputies were tracking two other suspects.
Early Wednesday at around 2:38 a.m., deputies were notified about the alleged burglary at the salvage yard in Highlands Ranch near Blakeland Drive and Highway 85. The suspects broke through a fence and rammed a patrol car, authorities said, and the deputy inside sustained injuries, yet continued to engage the suspects. The suspects fled along Belleview Avenue. A trailer they were towing became disconnected and crashed.
The deputy was treated and released from a hospital and is expected to recover.
Englewood police joined the chase and were targeted, too, as the shots were fired from the fleeing suspect vehicle, Weekly said.
New video of #DCSO deputies responding to a burglary. Suspect rammed marked patrol vehicle, led deputies on a lengthy pursuit, fired shots at deputies, crashed into tree. @SheriffWeekly said, "This video shows the dangers our deputies face and the dedication they have to… pic.twitter.com/qNSTPt9c77
— DC Sheriff (@dcsheriff) September 4, 2024
“If you shoot at a law enforcement officer, we will catch you,” he said.
Two unidentified suspects who fled on foot hadn’t been located Wednesday morning and were believed to have escaped the area, Weekly said. “We are very lucky that none of our deputies was hit.”
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