Two armed and wanted suspects were arrested after a late-night pursuit on Interstate 25 in Larimer County, Colorado, that began with a stolen-license-plate alert in Loveland late on Wednesday, November 11, and ended when deputies stopped the fleeing car with tire spikes and patrol vehicles near Highway 66, the Larimer County Sheriff's Office said. Deputies recovered multiple firearms from the vehicle and rescued a pregnant dog that had been inside the car throughout the pursuit.

Source: Larimer County Sheriff's Office (official release)

According to the Sheriff's Office, the incident began shortly after 11:45 p.m. on November 11, when an automatic license plate reader flagged a vehicle displaying a stolen license plate near Highway 34 and North Denver Avenue in Loveland. Deputies located the vehicle and attempted a traffic stop, but the driver refused to pull over and fled, setting off the pursuit onto the interstate.

During the pursuit, deputies reported seeing the driver waving a firearm in a threatening manner. Dispatch recordings from the chase described the vehicle being spiked near mile marker 243 on I-25 and traffic being shut down in the area while officers moved in. Officers deployed tire spikes and used patrol vehicles to stop the car near I-25 and Highway 66, north of the Denver metro in the Mead area, and took both people in the car into custody.

Source: North Forty News

Driver faces seven charges, including first-degree assault

The driver, Sully Lewis, 31, was arrested and booked into the Larimer County Jail. According to investigators, Lewis faces charges including first-degree assault, vehicular eluding, aggravated cruelty to animals, prohibited use of weapons, resisting arrest, obstructing a peace officer, and theft or removal of a vehicle license plate. Investigators said additional charges against Lewis remain possible.

The passenger, Carissa Allen, 36, was arrested on active El Paso County warrants carrying a $50,000 bond. Lewis, too, had an active warrant out of El Paso County — Colorado's county that includes Colorado Springs, at the opposite end of the I-25 corridor — with combined bonds of $108,000 on those warrants, on top of the $35,000 cash bond issued by Larimer County Court in this case.

Firearms recovered — and a pregnant dog rescued

Deputies recovered multiple firearms from the vehicle. They also rescued a pregnant dog that had been inside the car throughout the pursuit. The Sheriff's Office did not provide additional details about the dog's condition or where the animal was taken after the rescue. Lewis's charge list includes aggravated cruelty to animals; the Sheriff's Office has not publicly detailed the basis for that specific charge.

The Colorado State Patrol and the Loveland Police Department assisted the Sheriff's Office during the incident. No serious injuries were reported, despite the firearm being waved during the chase and the forcible stop on the interstate.

Interstate 25 is the main north-south highway corridor through Larimer County, linking Loveland and Fort Collins with the Denver metro to the south and Wyoming to the north, and it carries heavy truck and commuter traffic at all hours. License-plate reader alerts like the one that started this case are a routine tool for flagging stolen plates and wanted vehicles on the corridor — but a driver who refuses to stop, and who is reported to be armed, turns a plate hit into one of the most dangerous calls deputies handle.

What happens next: the investigation remains ongoing, and both Lewis and Allen remain in custody on the bonds listed above. All of the charges are allegations: both defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in court, and investigators say further charges against Lewis are possible as the case is reviewed.