CLEAR CREEK COUNTY, Colo. — The Clear Creek County sheriff on Thursday extended his condolences to the family of the uninvolved driver who was killed in a crash during a law enforcement pursuit, and also detailed the lengthy criminal history of the suspect who was also killed.
Clear Creek County Sheriff Matt Harris, who is leaving the department at the end of the month, held a press conference Thursday alongside other members of his department and Idaho Springs Police Chief Nathan Buseck to share more details about Tuesday's fatal crash.
Authorities were pursuing Christopher Neil Moore, 29, when Moore veered into the opposite lanes and crashed head-on with an uninvolved driver, 51-year-old Steven Ainsworth of Arvada. Both Ainsworth and Moore were killed in the crash.
“In this incident, [Ainsworth] was an innocent bystander and did not deserve to die," Sheriff Harris said. "On behalf of the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office, we share our condolences with Mr. Ainsworth’s family, his friends and loved ones... Two families have experienced the loss of a loved one, and both families are suffering.”
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Suspect, uninvolved driver killed after pursuit ends in crash in Clear Creek Co.
According to the sheriff, Moore was considered armed and dangerous at the time of the pursuit. He was suspected of committing seven vehicle break-ins in Clear Creek County earlier this week, and was accused of 30 vehicle break-ins across four other mountain counties, Harris said.
Moore was on parole at the time of the crash and was wearing an ankle monitor.
“Mr. Moore has a history of a total disregard for the laws designed to protect our citizens and children and to keep our communities safe," Sheriff Harris said.
Over the past 15 years, Moore had been arrested on charges related to assault, escape, drug-related offenses, weapon offenses, vehicle theft, credit card fraud and identity theft, vehicle trespasses, and others, according to the sheriff. During his press conference Thursday, Sheriff Harris held up a thick stack of paper as a way to illustrate Moore's criminal history.
“Time and time again, criminal episodes were lumped together into minimal convictions or pleas," Sheriff Harris said. "Felonies were pled down to misdemeanors and time-served sentences.”
“This is a failed judicial system, where somebody with a criminal rap sheet like this and to be on parole and not have his parole revoked — I mean, it’s frustrating in this business to keep arresting people day in and day out," he continued. "Jail is a revolving door. We can incarcerate out of this problem, but there are small members of our community that will not conform to social standards, and he was clearly one of them.”
- Watch the full press conference in the video below.
The sheriff's office said it was looking for Moore in connection with a series of vehicle break-ins at a Georgetown hotel when his ankle monitor was detected on Highway 40 near Floyd Hill Tuesday afternoon. The sheriff's office then requested the help of the Idaho Springs Police Department.
Clear Creek County deputies and officers with the Idaho Springs Police Department "staged" at the intersection of Highway 40 and Highway 6 and waited for Moore's vehicle — a Chrysler Town and Country.
According to CCCSO, the Chrysler was traveling westbound on Highway 40 and turned left onto Highway 6. Law enforcement tried to stop the vehicle, but the driver took off westbound on Highway 6 and then went the wrong way on the Interstate 70 eastbound off-ramp.
The sheriff's office said there was "virtually no eastbound traffic due to a rock scaling hold in the construction zone," and law enforcement ended its pursuit. The entire thing lasted less than 30 seconds and spanned less than half a mile, said Jenny Fulton, a spokesperson for the sheriff's office.
After a half-mile, the driver of the Chrysler reportedly turned around on I-70 and started speeding eastbound in the eastbound lanes.
Harris said the hope was to keep Moore on I-70, since it was closed for rock-scaling work, so two law enforcement vehicles blocked the I-70 off-ramp to Highway 6. According to Harris, Moore was speeding in the center lane and drove toward law enforcement, narrowly missing a deputy who was outside of their patrol vehicle to deploy stop sticks.
The Chrysler ran over the stop sticks, according to CCCSO, but kept traveling east on Highway 6 with deflated tires. Harris said law enforcement initiated another pursuit of Moore since the level of danger had escalated.
“His actions indicated a conscious disregard for human life and the law, and we tried to stop him before he hurt someone," Sheriff Harris said. "Unfortunately, we were unable to do so, and the outcome was tragic.”
Shortly after driving through Tunnel 6 at mile marker 259, the Chrysler lost control, according to the Colorado State Patrol (CSP), and crossed into the westbound lanes before colliding head-on with a Lexus RX350. The crash pushed the Lexus off the roadway, causing it to roll before landing in Clear Creek, according to the sheriff's office.
The driver and sole occupant of the Lexus — identified as Steven Ainsworth — was airlifted to the hospital and later pronounced dead. Moore, meanwhile, was pronounced dead at the scene.
A spokesperson for the sheriff's office said the second pursuit lasted less than two minutes and spanned less than two miles.
“This is absolutely tragic," Sheriff Harris said Thursday. "You have an innocent person on a sunny day, minding their business, just traveling. And all of a sudden, something like this happens."
A passenger in the Chrysler — a 27-year-old woman — was taken to the hospital. The sheriff's office initially said that the woman suffered minor injuries. Sheriff Harris said he did not have an update on her condition as of Thursday morning.
CSP is investigating the crash, while the Clear Creek County Sheriff's Office, in partnership with the Summit County Sheriff's Office and other jurisdictions, is investigating the crimes allegedly involving Moore. The sheriff's office and the Idaho Springs Police Department are also conducting internal investigations.
Denver7's Sydney Isenberg contributed to this report.
