Last week, a video surfaced on KKTV News that showed the aftermath of a slow speed chase that ended at the Gas N Roll in Cripple Creek. The video showed a slew of police vehicles following an SUV into the gas station parking lot.
The video shows the suspect stop and park at one of the pumps and then exit the vehicle. As soon as he got out of his SUV, the police officers ran towards him and starting screaming for the suspect to get on the ground.
In the video, it looked like the suspect ignored the commands of the police officers and continued walking slowly into the gas station. But before he entered the store, he was taken into custody by police.
The police officers from various departments ended up arresting 52-year-old Ronald Andert on a plethora of charges. Andert was charged with vehicular eluding, first degree criminal trespass, reckless endangerment, second degree criminal trespass, and reckless driving. He is currently being held at the Teller County Jail on a $50,000 cash-only bond.
According to Teller County Sheriff Lieutenant Wes Walter, the incident all started at around 8 p.m. on Jan. 22 when the sheriff’s office received a 911 call. “The deputies got called to a burglary in progress in the Victor/Goldfield area,” Walter said. “They were given a description of the vehicle and while they were in route on County Road 81, the vehicle passes them. So, they turn around, get behind him and try to light him up to get him to stop. He doesn’t stop and he continued. He then ended up going off the road and driving through a fence on the Newmont Mine property.”
While the suspect was driving off-road on the private mine property, more deputies and Colorado State Patrol Troopers arrived on scene and set up a perimeter around the area. Then about 20 minutes later, the lieutenant said that Andert came back onto the road where the police were there waiting for him.
Troopers with the Colorado State Patrol then deployed spike strips in an attempt to stop the suspect’s vehicle. However, the suspect drove around the spike strips and started heading down County Road 81 back towards Cripple Creek.
Andert then led Teller County Sheriff deputies and state troopers on a slow speed chase down County Road 81 and into Cripple Creek. In the video obtained by KKTV, the person filming it can be heard saying that they knew who the suspect was by what his vehicle looked like.
Andert reportedly was familiar to many locals in Cripple Creek and had been kicked out of at least one casino in the past. At the time of Andert’s latest arrest, he had several prior convictions and arrests that were still going through the court process. According to Walter, he had been arrested by the sheriff’s office previously.
