Share and Follow
AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) New Ring footage shows the moments when a suspect allegedly stole a marked Aurora Police Department vehicle, resulting in a half-hour-long pursuit across multiple jurisdictions on Tuesday morning.
APD said that officers were investigating a burglary call around 8:30 a.m. at 700 Aswego Street when they realized someone had allegedly taken off in one of their marked patrol cars.
FOX31 obtained Ring footage from the family who made the initial burglary report. The video captures the moments of a driver screeching off in that police vehicle.
“While investigating that incident, a possibly uninvolved male entered one of our police vehicles, the Tahoe behind me, and stole it,” APD Deputy Chief Michael Gaskill said. “One of the officers observed the male getting into the vehicle driving off and aired that to units in the area were a pursuit where pursuit was initiated.”
Gaskill said the suspect was able to drive the police vehicle through multiple jurisdictions, with speeds ranging from 30 mph to 80 mph. The pursuit ended when police say the suspect tried to make a turn and one of APD’s officers “entered the path of the vehicle and intentionally rammed the vehicle stopping it.”
The deputy chief also addressed how the suspect was able to get into the police vehicle in the first place.
“The keys weren’t in the ignition, the keys were in the officer’s pocket,” Gaskill said. “Our vehicles are equipped with anti-theft devices. However, that wasn’t engaged as the officers got out to investigate this call. We’ll be reviewing that, of course, once we identify how it happened, how we can prevent it from happening in the future.”
APD released an update Tuesday afternoon identifying the suspect, Brayan Reyes-Bernal, 31, who, according to APD, is facing charges for:
- Aggravated motor vehicle theft
- Vehicular eluding
- Burglary
- Hit-and-run
The police department also said that there may be additional charges in the incident and noted that Reyes-Bernal was currently on probation out of Adams County for felony trespassing.