The 30-year-old man who took a stolen shuttle bus on a joyride down Interstate 70 in Colorado’s mountains — and allegedly tried to hit first responders with it on the highway — took a plea deal last week, according to court records.
Jared Romelo Brooks pleaded guilty on Feb. 2 to second-degree motor vehicle theft, court records show. The deal dropped four counts of attempted first-degree murder, one count of third-degree motor vehicle theft and two counts of vehicular eluding from his case.
Brooks stole a shuttle bus from Georgetown on Oct. 10 and fled from police down I-70, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
Highway cameras captured Brooks swerving toward first responders assisting with an unrelated crash on the side of the road, according to federal officials. Investigators believe Brooks intended to strike the group with the bus.
Brooks sped past stopped traffic on the shoulder, veered through the crash scene, struck a police car and narrowly missed hitting police officers and EMTs before fleeing the scene, body-worn camera video released by the Idaho Springs Police Department showed. The bus was later found abandoned in Denver.
He is next scheduled to appear in court on March 2 for a sentencing hearing.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
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