Snowplow Operator Helps Capture Fleeing Suspect on Interstate 70 by Being in the Right Place at the Right Time

In Clear Creek County, Colorado, a driver operating one of three snowplows on Thursday night played a significant role in apprehending a fleeing burglary suspect on Interstate 70. The driver mentioned that they were in the right place at the right time during the incident.

At approximately 11:30 p.m. that Thursday, an Idaho Springs police officer spotted a black Hyundai Accent with a broken taillight on eastbound I-70 around milemarker 241. The vehicle had been reported stolen from Northglenn and was linked to a robbery and evasion case in Lakewood earlier in the week, according to the Idaho Springs Police Department.

The officer tried to pull the suspect over, but the driver did not stop, the police department said.

Simultaneously, snowplow operators from the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) were actively engaged in their duties in areas such as Georgetown, Idaho Springs, and Floyd Hill.

Michael Zamore, a supervisor with CDOT, explained that he was headed eastbound and saw a vehicle, trailed by several police cars with sirens, getting on the highway near the Two Bears restaurant, around where I-70 and Highway 6 meet.

He quickly radioed the plow drivers in the area to let them know about the police pursuit.

“Let’s be careful, let’s keep our eyes open,” he remembers telling them.

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Law enforcement from the Clear Creek Sheriff’s Office and Gilpin County Sheriff’s Office responded to help Idaho Springs police. They tried to use stop sticks to stop the suspect, but were not successful. They then tried a tactical rolling roadblock, but the suspect “aggressively avoided the maneuver” and hit a Clear Creek deputy’s vehicle, causing minor damage, the police department said.

At some point, the suspect, who was headed westbound, turned around and started driving eastbound on the highway.

Zamore knew he had a crew on Floyd Hill in the eastbound lanes. He also knew there were plenty of people on the roads, unaware of the danger.

“I called the team and I asked them, ‘Who’s willing to help?’ Because I wasn’t going to tell anyone to do anything they didn’t want to do,” he said. “They were all immediately willing to help… They wanted to bring this to a safe closure.”

Hear from Zamore and one of the snowplow drivers on his team below.

CO snowplow driver who stopped suspect on I-70: ‘Right place at the right time’

As a team, three snowplow drivers decided to go up Floyd Hill together, leaving the far left lane open for other drivers to pass through.

Henry Hinkle, the lead truck of that plow line and a CDOT employee of 17 years, kept a close eye on the cars behind him. Once he saw the police pursuit round the corner and start to head uphill, he moved over to block the left lane.

“As they got closer, we decided it was a good place to stop,” he recalled. “It wasn’t wide enough where (the suspect) could go anywhere else. So, we stopped.”

In dashboard police footage, the suspect’s car veered slightly into another lane and then back into the left lane as if trying to find a way around the plows. The video ends with the suspect coming to a full stop behind the trucks.

“We stayed in our trucks and within five seconds, (law enforcement) had the car surrounded with their guns out on him,” Hinkle said. “And once they got him on the ground and in custody, then we got out of our trucks and started directing traffic.”

The Idaho Springs Police Department shared the video on its Facebook page on Friday morning.

You can watch the full video from the police department below.

Colorado snow plow drivers help end police pursuit on I-70

The suspect was identified as Brendan Fooks, 27, of Denver. He was the only person in the car.

Fooks had two active warrants out of Broomfield related to alleged trespassing and shoplifting. He was arrested on those warrants, as well as charges related to Thursday’s incident. He was later formally charged with vehicular eluding, second-degree vehicle theft, possession of burglary tools, DUI, possession of drug paraphernalia, eluding a police officer, reckless driving, theft of a license plate, unlawful display of a license plate, theft by receiving and a tail lamp violation.

He told police he had been in the area scouring businesses to steal from, and was under the influence of alcohol and drugs. When authorities searched the car, they found “tools commonly used for burglary” as well as alcohol and drug paraphernalia, the police department said.

He is due in court on Jan. 15.

Zamore explained that a lot of people don’t realize that snowplow drivers do a lot more than just move snow off the road.

“We respond to emergencies, accidents, calls for help, broken down motorists,” he said.

It did not surprise him at all that the team of drivers headed up Floyd Hill were ready to help, he added.

Hinkle said in his 30 years of snowplowing — 17 of which were with CDOT — he has never seen a high-speed chase like that before.

“We just happened to be at the right place at the right time,” he said. “I’m glad it stopped the way it did and nobody got hurt.”