2 days ago
Colorado State Patrol uses grappler to catch stolen vehicle in Thornton
DENVER (KDVR) — The Colorado State Patrol used a grappler to help apprehend a stolen vehicle suspect early Wednesday morning in Thornton.
CSP said troopers responded to the area of East 84th Avenue and Grant Street at approximately 3:47 a.m. Wednesday after an officer with the Thornton Police Department requested assistance with a stolen Ram pickup truck that was located.
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Dashcam video provided to FOX31 shows the suspect vehicle turn onto southbound Interstate 25 from 84th Avenue after a first grapple attempt was unsuccessful, before a second attempt on the interstate is able to contact and disable the vehicle.
Both the suspect vehicle and the CSP patrol vehicle crashed into the median and were disabled during the stop. The trooper sustained no injuries, according to CSP, while the suspect fled on foot before being apprehended by officers, southeast of the final stop location.
CSP Sgt. Ivan Alvarado told FOX31's Kim Posey that the grappler is a useful tool.
'Even though it did cause a crash, it was a safer way to apprehend this vehicle,' he said. 'It helps us to apprehend a vehicle without having to do what's called a tactical vehicle intervention, the ones where we spin the cars around. So, it's a safer tool that we use.'
Other agencies, including the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, also use grapplers.
The system works best at slow speeds, Alvardo said, and without much traffic in the surrounding areas.
'Higher speeds bring a little bit more risk, but it's still a safer tool than everything else we have with us, and it's also something that we need to start using to apprehend those bad guys,' he said.
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CSP currently has 28 grapplers in use around the state and they have been deployed about 120 times for a variety of crimes.
The incident closed all lanes of travel for southbound I-25, but they were reopened by 5:20 a.m., according to CSP, which said the incident remains under investigation.
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