CASTLE ROCK, Colo. -- A University of Colorado student and his friend are in custody, accused in one of the worst crime sprees in Douglas County, which culminated in the shooting of a deputy in June, authorities announced Wednesday.

CU student Taylor Moudy, from Castle Rock, and Brandin Kreuzer, of Sedalia, were arrested on Tuesday, said Lt. Kevin Duffy with the Douglas County Sheriff's Office. Both are 19 years old and have been friends for a long time, police said.

They are being held at the Douglas County Detention Facility on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder, burglary, robbery and motor vehicle theft, but more charges are expected, Duffy said.

In a Wednesday morning news conference, Duffy said the suspects are linked to at least 17 auto thefts, one attempted auto theft, two vehicle trespasses, six home burglaries, one attempted home burglary, two police pursuits, an armed robbery and the shooting of the deputy.

The crime spree occurred between May 29 and June 28 in unincorporated Douglas County and Castle Rock.

Police said the suspects were caught on surveillance video during an armed robbery at the Circle K Convenience Store in Castle Rock on June 11. The video shows two men clad in all black military-style wear, brandishing a semiautomatic assault rifle.

The suspects also stole weapons, which they used to carry out their crime spree, Duffy said. The weapons have since been recovered.

Police don't know the motive behind the crime spree and why it abruptly ended after June 28. That is the day that dozens of deputies, SWAT team members and a police helicopter pursued the suspects. Police first received a call about a burglary in progress early that morning. Deputies spotted the vehicle and attempted to stop it but the suspects fled and fired into the patrol car, striking a deputy in the arm.

"Anytime you're dealing with individuals who would actually shoot at law enforcement officers, to society, those are the most dangerous individuals because if they're going to shoot at law enforcement officers, they will not hesitate to injure civilians," Duffy said.

A massive manhunt ensued after the pursuit but the suspects were never found.

The deputy was treated and released shortly after the shooting. He is back on the force and "doing quite well" but he's not allowed to speak about the case publicly because the investigation in ongoing, Duffy said.

At first, police did not have very many leads, but following information from witnesses, fingerprints, and DNA evidence left at the scene, detectives were led to Moudy, who was staying on the CU campus.

"We went up to the CU campus where the CU campus police department helped us bring the suspect down, where we interviewed him," Duffy said.

That interview led them to Kreuzer, who lives in Castle Rock and was planning on attending a community college near his home. Both suspects were cooperative in the investigation, as were their families, and were arrested without incident, police said.

The magnitude of the five-month investigation was expansive, and police credited investigators for not giving up on the case.

"It's one of the most serious crime sprees we've had in Castle Rock and Douglas County in a long time," Castle Rock police Chief Tony Lane. "We wanted these guys in custody and we wanted them bad. It took some time to do this but the investigators that were involved in this persevered."

Stolen property and weapons was recovered at one of the suspect's home, police said.

The full investigative report will be submitted to the district attorney's office by the end of the week.

Detectives are still in the process of locating witnesses to the crimes and possible associates to the suspects.