Law-enforcement officers from three agencies were searching for the driver of an SUV who fled down a Forest Service road in Archuleta County on Thursday evening after Colorado State Patrol troopers attempted to stop the motorist for driving without illuminated headlights.
Trooper Josh Lewis, a public information officer with the Colorado State Patrol in Denver, said the agencies don’t know who the driver is or why he fled down Forest Service Road 620, which was impassible to the State Patrol vehicles attempting the traffic stop.
Initial contact with the vehicle, which appeared to be towing a homemade trailer, was made on U.S. Highway 160, but the driver quickly turned down the Forest Service road, Lewis said.
During the time troopers were in contact with the vehicle, Lewis said troopers reported hearing multiple gunshots, but they were “in the distance” and troopers “did not feel they were being shot at.”
Lewis said the deputies from the Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office and the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office were assisting the search, but he was unsure how many people were involved in the effort Thursday night.
In addition, the agencies had requested a helicopter from the San Juan County, N.M., Sheriff’s Office to assist.
At the same time as the search for the driver was going on, Lewis said law-enforcement personnel were involved in removing a woman from a home in the area where the search was being conducted. However, Lewis said that incident was unrelated to the search for SUV driver.
“The situation is ongoing, and there’s not a whole lot I can confirm until the situation is closed,” Lewis said Thursday night.
patrick@durangoherald.com
