WESTMINSTER, Colo. – A domestic violence victim who was being held against her will inside a car by her boyfriend was killed after the vehicle they were both in crashed on U.S. 36 early Saturday, according to the Westminster Police Department.
A spokesperson for the department said they received a call at around 7 a.m. from a woman saying she had been involved in a domestic violent situation, adding she had been assaulted and was being held against her will in a car driving in the area of 104th Avenue and Federal Blvd.
Officers responded to the area and were able to find the car around 92nd Ave. and Federal, but the driver of the vehicle was able to escape and police lost sight of the car about eight blocks south of that location.
While officers tried to locate the vehicle, dispatch received several 911 calls reporting a crash near the on-ramp to westbound U.S. 36 from Federal Blvd. Callers also told dispatch a male suspect was trying to carjack several cars in the area.
Police determined that the crashed car was the same car they were trying to find earlier.
The vehicle was found upside down and engulfed in flames, the spokesperson said. The woman was declared dead at the scene after her body was found not too far from the crash site.
UPDATE from @WestminsterPD: WB US 36 on ramp and SB off ramp onto Federal Blvd. will be closed into the afternoon. Woman and man in the car during crash, the woman died. @DenverChannel #Denver7 pic.twitter.com/KbjkiCmKbQ
— Connor Wist (@connorwist) June 9, 2018
As police arrived to the scene of the crash, officers say the suspect carjacked another car and drove away from the area. Officers chased the vehicle onto westbound U.S. 36 before the suspect crashed the stolen car and fled on foot in the area of 91st Avenue and Sheridan Blvd.
Police said the suspect then tried to hijack other vehicles in the area but was unable to do so as police chased him on foot and took him into custody about a block away minutes later.
He was taken to the Westminster Police Department for booking. His identity has not been released.
The North Metro Accident Team is investigating and reconstructing the crash. The on-ramp to westbound U.S. 36 from Federal Blvd. and the off-ramp from westbound U.S. 36 to southbound Federal Blvd. were closed for about six hours as investigators worked the crash scene.