TELLER COUNTY, Colorado - A couple connected to a crime in Missouri was taken into custody Wednesday in Colorado after they were accused of shooting at law enforcement officers.
According to Commander Mark Morlock of the Teller County Sheriff's office, about 1 p.m. Wednesday, officers from the Cripple Creek Police Department in Colorado tried to stop a stolen vehicle.
The vehicle was a gray 2008 Mercedes sedan, reported stolen from a gas station in Fulton on Dec. 18. The name of the owner was not immediately available from Fulton police.
According to Morlock, the vehicle fled the city limits, and went on a county road. A deputy deployed spike strips to stop the stolen vehicle, reportedly being driven by Missouri resident Austen Adams, 26.
As the Mercedes passed by the deputy, Adams, who is listed as a Fulton and O'Fallon resident on Missouri Casenet, fired several rounds from a semiautomatic handgun at the deputy.
The vehicle continued to drive on and over the next several miles Adams reportedly continued to fire shots at pursuing officers. The car eventually came to a stop with three flat tires, according to deputies. No shots were fired by law enforcement officers and no injuries were reported.
Adams, along with a female passenger identified as 18-year-old Tara Lynn Kennedy Tarasi, was taken into custody without incident. A stolen handgun was also recovered.
Adams was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder of a peace officer/criminal attempt, two counts; aggravated motor vehicle theft, vehicular eluding and possession of weapons by previous offenders.
He was also taken into custody on five active arrest warrants. Two were felony and three were misdemeanor. One of the felony warrants was a no bond for failure to appear.
Tarasi, whom Morlock said is a Colorado resident, was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder of a peace officer/criminal attempt, two counts; aggravated motor vehicle theft and vehicular eluding.
Morlock said the Mercedes will be held as evidence, and Adams and Tarasi are being held in jail.