
An alleged thief in a stolen tractor trailer “deliberately” injured several people, damaged more than 10 cars, and led police on an extensive chase in Colorado over the weekend.
The theft occurred in Sterling, Colorado on Saturday, April 28th, and spanned across US Highway 34 and Interstate 76.
Police say that the semi truck was stolen from the town of Sterling on Saturday evening before the thief, 29-year-old Dean Luedtke, began heading west on Highway 34. Police then pursued the vehicle as it began “deliberately” ramming cars – first a vehicle also traveling west on US 34, then an occupied police car stopped on Riverview Avenue, before ramming another vehicle, this one unoccupied. Both the police officer and the motorist were injured in the crash, reported Fox News.
Luedtke then began heading east on I-74 for a short period of time before exiting at Hospital Road in Brush and driving the stolen rig through a Love’s Travel Stop, narrowly missing a pedestrian before pulling up to Brush Middle School down the street, where he attempted to run down a school police officer. The officer fired several shots at the rampaging tractor trailer, but was unsuccessful, and the suspect just drove the big rig into the officer’s unoccupied patrol car.
The suspect then drove into oncoming lanes of traffic on Colorado Avenue, striking an oncoming car and injuring both occupants in the vehicle. A few blocks later, Luedtke then struck another vehicle at the intersection of Cameron and Eaton Streets, causing the vehicle to flip and strike a tree before pushing it up against a house, injuring one of the two occupants.
Eventually, after striking even more vehicles, Luedtke jumped from the moving tractor trailer at the 800 block of Custer Street, causing the unmanned rig to crash into two more parked vehicles. He was immediately taken into custody.
“Four of five people whose vehicles were struck by the tractor and freight trailer, including a Fort Morgan Police Officer, were treated at area hospitals,” said Morgan County Sheriff Jim Crone in a news release.
“One of the victims was held overnight for observation,” he said.
“He [Luetdke] was definitely aiming at people. I don’t know if it was in desperation to get away or he decided he was going to take people with him,” Crone continued.
“He wasn’t trying to scare people. He was trying to hurt people.”
The incident is currently under further investigation and Luedtke is being held on multiple counts of attempted first degree murder, first degree assault, along with multiple other felony and misdemeanor charges related to the theft.