DENVER — The crowds descended upon downtown Denver for the 2019 home opener Friday, but a Rockies loss didn’t mean a slow night for police.
Around 7 p.m.,a Denver officer trying to break up a LoDo brawl between multiple people near 19th and Market was injured when someone threw a bottle at him.
The officer suffered a laceration to his head and was treated and released from Denver Health. Police are looking for a suspect in the case.
About an hour later, police responded to 15th and Blake on a report of an auto-pedestrian crash. A pedestrian was seriously injured in the crash involving three other vehicles, one of which failed to stay at the scene, police say.
Police say the hit-and-run driver was likely the one that struck the pedestrian, whose condition is not known.
The suspect vehicle is described as a maroon 2006 Toyota pickup truck with Colorado license plates: BRI-869. Authorities issued a Medina Alert following the crash.
Police closed several streets in the area as they continued their investigation.
If you have any information about this hit-and-run crash, you are asked to call the Denver Police Department at (720) 913-2000.
More about Colorado's Medina Alert program
A Medina Alert is issued when three criteria are met: The crash is a hit-and-run; the crash has caused serious bodily injury; and law enforcement has a license plate number as well as the make, color and style of the vehicle and/or the suspect's identity.
The alert's namesake honors the memory of Jose Medina, a 21-year-old valet driver who was killed by a hit-and-run driver in 2011. A taxi driver witnessed the event, followed the driver and gave police the license plate number, leading to the capture and arrest of the suspect who was sentenced to the maximum penalty of 12 years for a hit-and-run resulting in death.
