Man arrested after attempted escape

A 39-year-old fugitive was arrested after he led Colorado Springs police on a demolition-derby-like chase early Monday morning that got progressively slower as he intentionally crashed and damaged the stolen vehicle.

Ultimately, Markus Whaley was going only 5 mph on a dirt bike path when an officer rammed the car to end the chase and keep him from driving through a homeless camp, according to a police report.

The chase began shortly after 12:05 a.m. when police officers from the Sand Creek Division arrived at the 2900 block of South Academy.

After witnessing the car theft, the owner got in another vehicle and drove after the thief. When he found his stolen vehicle, he called police, but before officers arrived, the thief allegedly rammed the victim’s other car before fleeing again.

A police cruiser quickly caught up with the desperado and drove ahead of the car. Although Whaley could have maneuvered around the fully marked police car, he rammed the cruiser, causing additional damage to the stolen car.

Whaley kept going, ignoring flashing lights and sirens, the police report says. But the fastest his getaway stolen car would go with all the damage it had sustained was 20 mph, the police report says.

Soon, the stolen vehicle slowed to 10 mph and Whaley drove off the 1900 block of South Murray Boulevard. He drove east through a field and onto a bike path that runs north and south along the west side of the Sand Creek drainage ditch.

When Whaley reached the bike path with police cruisers still in pursuit, the car was only going about 5 mph.

When police realized Whaley was approaching a homeless camp under the bridge at 2300 South Academy Boulevard, officers became concerned he could kill or seriously injure someone.

So an officer sped up and crashed into the back bumper of the stolen vehicle at an angle to force it into a field of landscaping boulders.

The car became lodged between the boulders and could go no further, the police report says. Officers then arrested Whaley, who was wanted on a felony drug charge, without “injury to the suspect.”