Two squad cars were struck during a high-speed police chase throughout Aurora
A Tuesday afternoon confrontation between a number of people inside two vehicles led to a shooting and later a high-speed police chase throughout Aurora, police said.
Several people have been charged as a result of the incidents, which began around 12:15 p.m. near Fifth Street and Seventh Avenue, Aurora Police Department spokesman Dan Ferrelli said.
It was around that time that three people in a car got into a confrontation with several men in a van. Ferrelli said the van followed the car to the 800 block of Gates Street, where the car’s 19-year-old driver dropped off passenger Juan Jaime, 40, at his home. A 16-year-old Aurora woman was also in the car with Jaime and the driver, police said.
After Jaime was dropped off, he told police the van returned. While speeding past Jaime’s home, someone in the van allegedly pointed a gun in his direction. Ferrelli said Jaime pulled out his own weapon and shot once toward the van, police said. The bullet missed the van but struck a house across the street, Ferrelli said.
The van drove away and police charged Jaime with misdemeanor reckless conduct.
“We had a lot of people come forward with information which has been very helpful so far,” Ferrelli said.
Police said that was just the first of several times on Tuesday that the van was spotted at crime scenes.
At 1 p.m., a 22-year-old bicyclist in the 900 block of Fulton Street said he was approached by several men inside a van that matched the description of the one involved in the earlier incident.
Ferrelli said the men in the van began uttering gang slogans toward the bicyclist and that a 16-year-old Aurora man inside the van pulled out a gun, cocked the weapon, and pointed it toward the victim.
The bicyclist was able to peddle away before shots were fired and the van sped off again, Ferrelli said.
Twenty minutes later, at 1:20 p.m., Aurora police spotted a van matching the same description near Woodruff Street and Front Street and attempted to stop the vehicle.
Police said the van’s 17-year-old driver refused to pull over and began to lead police on a high-speed chase toward the city’s West Side.
Inside the van were five other people — three 16-year-olds, a 17-year-old and a 22-year-old man, police said.
According to Ferrelli, as the van neared the 800 block of Mountain Street, one of the 16-year-old passengers jumped from the van and was quickly taken into custody. Additional officers continued the pursuit, during which the van struck a squad car and a resident’s vehicle.
The chase ended near Illinois Avenue and Grand Avenue when the van struck a second squad car and another vehicle before the driver hopped out of the van and attempted to run, police said.
The driver was taken into custody and charged with two counts of felony fleeing/eluding police, no insurance, no license, failure to reduce speed to avoid a crash and leaving the scene of a crash. He was also taken into custody on several warrants, Ferrelli said.
A 16-year-old passenger was charged with aggravated assault stemming from the incident with the bicyclist.
Ferrelli said the other passengers were questioned and released. No weapons were found inside the vehicle. The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information is asked to call Aurora police investigators at 630-256-5500.
