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!’”

Read the full story on The Denver Post Web site

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.

Read the full story on The Denver Post Web site

DENVER — A man was fatally shot Thursday just yards off Denver’s popular 16th Street Mall, closing two blocks of Welton Street for two hours in the middle of a busy workday afternoon.

The unidentified man was pronounced dead at Denver Health Medical Center after suffering multiple gunshot wounds in a restaurant after an apparent altercation involving three or four people, police said.

Denver police spokeswoman Loretta Beauvais said the shooting occurred at 3:37 p.m. at Chopsticks & Sushi, a Japanese-Chinese restaurant at 1630 Welton St.

After Thursday’s shooting, police closed Welton Street to traffic between 15th and 17th streets until about 5:45 p.m. Dozens of bystanders crowded against yellow police tape to survey the scene.

Read the full online version of the story on The Denver Post Web site

Read the full version that appeared on page B1 of The Denver Post

DENVER — A young buck mule deer gored a 63-year-old woman near Florissant on Monday after she apparently called to the animal in an attempt to pet him.

A motorist came to the aid of Joan Nutt by driving up to the house and honking his horn to scare the buck away, said Michael Seraphin, a spokesman for the Division of Wildlife.

Wildlife officials fear someone had been feeding the deer, which wasn’t afraid of humans. The deer was euthanized.

Nutt was treated at Pikes Peak Regional Medical Center in Woodland Park. The deer’s antlers and hooves left cuts on her elbow and lower arm, in addition to minor wounds on her hands, upper leg, stomach and hip. She was released from the hospital after surgeons placed a pin in one of her arms, Seraphin said.

A news release from the Division of Wildlife detailed what happened:

Nutt was visiting her sister’s home when she called to the deer, which came closer, lowered his head and charged the woman. She grabbed one of the deer’s antlers in an attempt to fend him off, but he knocked her down before she could escape.

The passing motorist and his passenger saw what was happening and were able to scare the animal away, then contact the Teller County Sheriff’s Office.

Read the full story on The Denver Post Web site