BOULDER, Colo — Police are looking for a 16-year-old hitchhiker who nearly beat to death a 71-year-old woman who picked him up in Lefthand Canyon.
Police say the woman picked up the teen along with two others near Ward around 8 p.m. Monday. Police say the woman took the three teens to her house on Lefthand Canyon Drive where the assault occurred.
The 16-year-old boy beat the woman with a blunt object after his two traveling companions, a 19-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl, rebuffed his idea to attack the woman and steal her car.
The two other teens ran from the Boulder County home and called police amid the assault. Police say the teen may have hitchhiked again after the assault. He was last seen getting into a white hatchback.
First responders rushed the woman to the hospital where she remains in critical condition with significant head injuries. The two teen companions are cooperating with investigators.
Denver7 talked to the neighbor who called 911. He didn't want to go on-camera or be identified, but said she's a tough lady who had lived in the home by herself for about a year. The neighbor said hitchhiking is fairly common on this rural stretch of the canyon and people often pick up hitchhikers.
Sheriff's investigators have obtained an arrest warrant for the teen for attempted first-degree murder.
Investigators are still seeking witnesses in Lefthand Canyon or along the Peak-to-Peak Highway who may have given a ride to the teen Tuesday morning or Monday night.
Bond has been set at $1 million.
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