VAIL VALLEY, Colorado — A deputy got into a car chase in the Vail Valley Feb. 21 after responding to a call for assistance from Vail police regarding a hit-and-run. The deputy was in the suspect's area when he received the call.

The officer found a red Jeep Wrangler and license plate matching the description of the suspect vehicle. It was stuck in a ditch on Riverside Drive near its intersection with Highway 6. The officer pulled in behind the Jeep and switched on his emergency lights. At that point, the Jeep driver recklessly tried to get out of the ditch by stomping the gas pedal. It worked. The Jeep exited the ditch and fishtailed while turning left onto Riverside Court heading west. The deputy pursued.

The Jeep accelerated at a high rate of speed, fishtailing back and forth. The officer saw a pedestrian with two dogs crossing the road ahead of the Jeep, which continued to accelerate. The pedestrian had to grab one of the dogs to avoid being hit. The suspect made no attempt to avoid them.

Then the pedestrian ran back into the street in front of the officer's car to get the second dog, which was small and white. The officer slowed to a stop and then continued the car chase.

He followed the Jeep into a condominium parking lot. He observed a white male get out of the Jeep. The man was unsteady on his feet as he made eye contact with the deputy, who was driving up. The suspect ran for stairs leading into a condo. The deputy yelled for him to stop three times as he chased the him up the stairs.

The suspect entered a condo unit. The officer arrived at the top of the stairs in time to see him taking off his jacket in the living room area, again making eye contact. The first outside door of the unit was unlocked. The officer entered but was locked out by a second, glass door. The officer knocked and yelled, “Sheriff's Office,” several times. The suspect continued to look at him through the glass then disappeared into the house. The deputy kept knocking. The suspect reappeared once and disappeared again, walking to another area of the house.

Other deputies arrived and then the suspect stood in the front room looking at them. Officers told him to unlock the door. The 43-year-old man slowly walked to the door and opened it. He asked the police what they wanted. The original deputy said he wanted to talk to him about failing to stop when he was following him and almost hitting a pedestrian. The deputy also said Vail police were on their way there to discuss a hit-and-run accident.

The deputy asked the suspect if he had any identification. The man said yes but continued to stand at the front door. The deputy asked if he could come in. The man said no. The deputy asked the suspect if he would come outside and talk with him. The man asked why. The officer explained again and the man said he'd been home all night drinking and that he was not driving. The officer said he had witnessed everything the man did since his Jeep got out of the ditch.

Vail police arrived but couldn't get the suspect to talk about the hit-and-run. At that point, police entered the residence and placed the man under arrest. He started to resist the handcuffs until another officer pointed a Taser at him and told him to stop resisting.

The suspect waited in the back seat of a deputy's patrol car for Vail police to issue him a summons before he was taken to county jail.