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Car chase started with a harassment call

High-speed pursuit ends with a man in custody facing multiple charges

A pursuit that began earlier Wednesday night in Durango ended after 10 p.m. in the 13600 block of Florida Road (County Road 240).

The male driver, identified as Roger Brassard by the Durango Police Department, was the only occupant of the vehicle. He was taken into custody, said Sgt. Mel Schaaf of the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office.

The pursuit began after the Durango Police Department received a report of a dispute between a woman and a man in the 500 block of East Seventh Avenue at 8:53 p.m., Lt. Ray Shupe with the DPD said.

“Originally, the call was for a harassment charge,” he said, “then we got a call reporting that he had a gun and there had been shots fired. We had information he was in a blue (Chevrolet) Tahoe. An officer saw the vehicle leaving from the alley and tried to make a stop, but he sped off up Goeglein Gulch Road.”

Shupe said officers thought the vehicle, which belonged to an ex-girlfriend, had been stolen, but she later said he had permission to drive it.

“We couldn’t confirm the gun or the shots fired at the scene, either,” he said. “This was a rapidly evolving mess.”

Brassard reached speeds up to 90 mph on Goeglein and while going up over the mesa before driving down North College Drive, Shupe said. The driver sideswiped a parked car in the 2600 block of North College and continued down to Florida Road, heading northeast.

The Durango Police Department pursued the SUV until just before Edgemont Ranch, when the DPD called the pursuit off after confirming the vehicle was not stolen and there was no sign of shots fired, he said.

A sheriff’s office deputy who was headed down Florida Road from Bayfield passed the SUV coming from the opposite direction and turned around to follow it. After reaching County Road 243, the SUV turned north, passed Lemon Reservoir and drove onto U.S. Forest Service roads before turning around and heading back down County Road 243 to Florida Road.

After the SUV turned back toward town, the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office laid down spike strips on the road to flatten the tires, but the SUV continued driving after going over the strips. The deputy then employed a precision-immobilization technique, forcing the pursued vehicle sideways and to a stop.

No weapons were found in the car.

“This started with just a harassment charge,” Shupe said. “But now we’ll be charging him with harassment, reckless driving, a hit-and-run and felony eluding. The sheriff’s office is going to charge him with (driving under the influence), driving with a revoked license and felony eluding.”

abutler@durangoherald.com



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