Daniel Petty

By JEREMY P. MEYER and DANIEL PETTY

WESTMINSTER, Colo. — Construction workers laying concrete near West 104th Avenue and Federal Boulevard hit the ground Thursday afternoon as a pair of bank robbers being chased by Westminster police fired a shot through the rear window of their Subaru.

It was the first shot in a rolling gun battle that ended 16 blocks away when police forced the getaway car to crash.

“I could hear ‘Pow! Ding! . . . Pow! Ding!’ ” said 43-year-old Shad Grothe of Littleton.

Grothe and his co-workers scrambled for cover — one diving to the snow-covered ground, others hiding behind a yellow John Deere tractor and pile of concrete debris.

Grothe said he bolted for a gas station convenience store, hoping to get behind bulletproof glass. Patrons at the gas station hit the floor for cover.

The shooters fired four more times, the workers said, before they turned back out to Federal Boulevard and sped away, with the police in pursuit.

“I looked up and said, ‘Oh, the cops got somebody!’ His lights were on,” said another worker, Andy Sprague of Centennial. “I thought he pulled him over for running a stop sign or something. Then all of a sudden: ‘Boom! Boom! . . . Boom!’”

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This story appeared on Page 20A of the Nov. 20 final edition of The Denver Post. Daniel Petty reported the part of the story republished above.

By HOWARD PANKRATZ, KIRK MITCHELL, JEREMY P. MEYER, MONTE WHALEY and DANIEL PETTY

WESTMINSTER, Colo. — Both suspects in the robbery of a Westminster bank are dead and two police officers including the deputy chief were injured following a chase and shootout, authorities say.

Officer Sean Chandler, who joined the department in 1998, was shot in the hip and hospitalized at St. Anthony Central hospital in stable condition, Westminster police spokesman Trevor Materasso said.

A bullet grazed the hip of Deputy Police Chief Tim Carlson, who joined the police department in 1987. He was treated at the scene and not hospitalized, Materasso said.

Both suspects were shot in their car. The male suspect was killed during the shootout. The wounded female suspect was taken to St. Anthony Central hospital where she later died, Materasso said. He said both were young adults.

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