Colorado man charged after police say he "intentionally" drove truck through police station
A Colorado man was arrested on Thursday after police say he "intentionally" drove his truck through the Grand Junction Police Department. Videos and images from the incident show the driver of the vehicle turning down a street before ramming his truck through the front glass doors of the station.
Police said that the incident occurred around 12:30 p.m. on Thursday when the truck "plowed through the front doors" of the public lobby and collided with a wall that divided the lobby from employees. Multiple employees were in the area when the crash happened, police said, but nobody was injured. The driver also did not need further medical attention and the public lobby was empty at the time.
Video from inside the station shows Nathan Chacon, 45, calmly exiting the driver's seat of the truck moments after the crash with his hands raised above his head. Officers, gun in hand, then approach and detain the man.
At approximately 12:30 pm today, a vehicle crashed into the lobby of the Grand Junction Police Department. There are no...
Posted by Grand Junction Police Department on Wednesday, January 25, 2023
In an affidavit, Detective Bryce Raber said he was "completely shocked and taken aback" by the scene when he arrived after Chacon was detained. He said that the wall the truck had hit had been pushed "several feet" into offices.
"Miraculously, this wall stopped Nathan's truck and did not allow it to go any further into the offices where numerous employees were working and going about their general daily duties," Raber said.
The affidavit says that before the incident occurred, Chacon thought he was "being followed" by several cars and that he had attempted to turn down side streets to avoid them. When he arrived at the station parking lot, Chacon told Raber that "he did not want to be killed" and decided to drive into the lobby.
Police said he was arrested and taken to Mesa County Detention Facility, where he faces six charges: Attempted murder in the first degree, attempted assault in the first degree, attempted vehicular homicide-reckless driving; attempted vehicular assault; criminal mischief; and reckless endangerment.
Damages are estimated to be more than $100,000, the affidavit says.
"The Grand Junction Police Department believes this to be an isolated incident and there is no ongoing threat to the community," police said. "This is an active investigation and there is no further information at this time."
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Li Cohen is a social media producer and trending content writer for CBS News.
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