An otherwise quiet overnight patrol in northeast Aurora turned hectic when officers spotted a Jeep rolling around with temporary dealer tags that actually belonged to a Ford. The mismatched plates sparked a brief pursuit that ended near East Jewell Avenue and Harvest Road after officers used stop sticks and pulled off a PIT maneuver to bring the SUV to a halt.
In a post on X, the Aurora Police Department said graveyard-shift officers first clocked the suspicious tags, then followed the Jeep until the driver took off. According to the department, officers used a PIT maneuver to stop the vehicle, deployed stop sticks that blew out one tire, and found heroin and meth on the driver, identified in the post only as Kayla, who was arrested on suspicion of vehicular eluding, per the Aurora Police Department.
How Officers Brought the Jeep to a Stop
Police agencies often turn to tire-deflation devices and the PIT, short for pursuit intervention technique, as tools to avoid long, high-speed chases. National best practices, however, say those tactics should come with strict rules and solid training. The Police Executive Research Forum and the COPS Office urge departments to balance public-safety risks, limit pursuits to serious, violent crimes or immediate threats, and require specialized instruction before officers use stop sticks or PIT procedures, according to the Police Executive Research Forum/COPS guide.
Charges and Legal Stakes
Aurora police say Kayla was booked on suspicion of vehicular eluding and that she had five active warrants spread across four jurisdictions. Officers also reported recovering suspected heroin and meth from the vehicle. In Colorado, vehicular eluding is a felony offense under C.R.S. 18-9-116.5 and can bring prison time and steep fines, depending on whether anyone was hurt, according to the Colorado Revised Statutes…