DENVER – Four people were sentenced in connection with a violent crime spree that spanned several Denver metro area counties and lasted more than two hours back in 2021, a spokesperson with the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office said Tuesday.
Deshawn Flores, 29; Sergio Bucio, 24; Lailani Sanchez, 25; and Dominica Meza, 26, were sentenced to a combined 70 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections by the DA’s office for their roles in the crime spree that spanned Adams, Denver, and Jefferson counties in the early morning hours of August 28, 2021.
The first incident was reported at around 1:42 a.m. on W. 72nd. Ave. and Federal Blvd. in Westminster.
Police said the victim in this first incident was driving eastbound along W. 72nd Ave. in Westminster when Sanchez, who was driving a Chevrolet Malibu, passed in front of him and tried to slow the victim down by hitting the brakes multiple times. The victim in this first incident continued driving but Bucio reportedly leaned out the window of the Malibu and “fired multiple gunshots at his vehicle,” according to a news release.
Both the victim as well as Sanchez and Bucio, who were in the Malibu, stopped at a red light before they were joined at the stop by Flores and Meza, who were inside a Mazda CX5. Police said Flores got out of the driver’s seat of the Mazda and approached the victim’s vehicle with a gun in hand and struck him with it. The victim tried to roll up his window and then tried to fight back as “multiple shots were fired” by Bucio before both suspect vehicles drove away from the crime scene, according to prosecutors. The victim sustained gunshots to this left leg and arm, according to a DA spokesperson, who released a summary of the incidents in a news release Tuesday.
Seven shell casings were recovered from that scene.
About an hour later, at around 2:40 a.m., a Denver police HALO camera caught Sanchez arriving at the 2300 block of Alcott Street and getting out of the vehicle along with Meza, Flores and Bucio.
Bucio was then seen holding a large rifle and firing it into the air, prosecutors said, before a dark colored vehicle drove away from the area at approximately 3:07 a.m. Police said Flores then chased that vehicle on foot while holding a handgun. As this happened, a Subaru with three people inside was driving around this area at around the same time, and Flores pointed his handgun toward this vehicle before Sanchez, Meza, Flores, and Bucio got back inside the Mazda and chased the Subaru toward Speer Blvd. and Zuni St.
Sanchez, while inside the Malibu, was able to block in the Subaru and both he and Bucio got out and pointed their guns at the driver and the two passengers inside the Subaru, according to police. Somehow, the driver of the Subaru was able to escape but was immediately chased by the Malibu, which rammed the Subaru several times during the pursuit and eventually disabled it near W. 26th Ave. and Kendall St. in Lakewood.
At this point, police said, Flores reportedly broke in through the back door of the car and hit a woman with his handgun as he attempted to rob her. Meza and Sanchez then joined in before Flores realized a bystander was trying to help the victims in the Subaru. Prosecutors said Flores then reportedly struck this man in the face with his handgun and Bucio used his rifle to break the driver’s side window of the Subaru and held another one of the passengers at gunpoint while demanding her purse and cell phone. Police said the suspects then got inside the Malibu and fled the scene.
Meanwhile, between 3:15 and 3:30 a.m., Sanchez rear-ended two people who were driving in the area of W. 42nd Ave. and Wadsworth Blvd. in Arvada before pulling up in front of the vehicle and hitting the brakes so the driver would stop, according to police.
Sanchez struck that vehicle once more and the victim pulled over into a parking lot, where the group then assaulted the driver and passenger with handguns and AR-15 style rifles, police said. Somehow, the victims in this instance were eventually able to get away and fled the area.
Not far from there, along 5250 Wadsworth Blvd. in Arvada, the victim of a carjacking called police at around 3:34 a.m. to inform them the suspects took his 2017 Buick Encore at gunpoint after they used the Malibu to slam into the rear of his vehicle.
About six minutes later, at around 3:40 a.m., two more victims were leaving a 7-Eleven located at 7540 Pecos St. in their Mercedes when the group of suspects blocked them from leaving using the stolen Buick and the Malibu. Police said Flores and Bucio then assaulted one of the victims, before Flores took a bag which had more than $500 in cash. The suspects then left the scene.
At around 4 a.m., Adams County Sheriff’s deputies chased the suspects inside the Buick while Meza, who was driving the Mazda, tried to stop the deputies, “but eventually the vehicles stopped and Meza and Flores were apprehended,” according to police.
Bucio and Sanchez were arrested at a later date, according to a DA spokesperson.
