GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — A man involved in a crash on Interstate 70 in Mesa County assaulted and then stole another motorist’s vehicle after the good Samaritan stopped to offer help early Tuesday morning, according to the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office.
The suspect was arrested about a half-hour later after the sheriff’s office said he was involved in a second crash with the good Samaritan’s vehicle in Grand Junction.
Deputies are seeking a woman who was with the suspect at the I-70 incident but did not go with the male suspect in the stolen vehicle and disappeared from the original scene.
At approximately 4:30 a.m. Tuesday, Mesa County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of a carjacking near the Beavertail Tunnel on I-70.
The victim told deputies he saw two people, a man and a woman, on the side of the road, who looked like they had just been in a car accident.
The suspect and the woman were believed to have crashed a white Chevy Blazer, which deputies found on its side at a rest stop just west of the Beavertail Tunnel.
When the good Samaritan stopped to help them, the man assaulted him and stole his car, according to the sheriff’s office.
About 30 minutes later, the suspect in the stolen car was involved in a two-vehicle crash at 30 Road and Patterson Road in Grand Junction, the sheriff’s office said. Police arrived and arrested the unidentified suspect and took him to a local hospital for treatment.
The sheriff’s office said charges related to this incident are currently being investigated.
Deputies would like to speak with the female as a possible witness to this incident. If you have information about her whereabouts please contact the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office at (970) 242-6707.
