(OTERO COUNTY, Colo.) — On Wednesday, June 28, the Colorado State Patrol (CSP) released video from an incident in which a patrol vehicle was stolen by a suspect in Otero County earlier in June.

On Tuesday, June 20, CSP assisted the Otero County Sheriff’s Office in a successful Tactical Vehicle Intervention (TVI), or a PIT maneuver, at the end of a chase involving a suspect who had been reportedly driving erratically.

“Swerving at other vehicles, potentially causing some other crashes. There was also a potential… of a… report of shots fired,” said Col. Matthew Packard, chief of CSP. “So that call came out. A request of assistance for the State Patrol to engage with this pursuit.”

CSP troopers were able to remove the suspect — Anthony Alphonso Sanchez III — from his car after the TVI and put him in handcuffs. A search of the vehicle revealed he had a loaded handgun on his front passenger seat.

Sanchez was then put in a patrol car, which was previously used to drop off another suspect at the jail, and the partition slider was left open.

“He literally ran back to his car, didn’t get that slider closed when he went to respond to this incident,” Packard said.

From the time Sanchez was put in the back of the patrol cruiser, he was able to get his hands in front of him and squeeze through that partition, all in about 90 seconds.

Then, he drove off in the car.

With lights and sirens blaring, Sanchez headed east on Highway 50. At some points, he even reached speeds up to 120 miles per hour.

The chase lasted just over 20 minutes and covered over 37 miles.

Law enforcement used three “stop stick” attempts on the stolen patrol car. The last one was successful in finally stopping the stolen car, and Sanchez ultimately crashed into a semi before spinning off to the right side of the road.

Law enforcement pulled Sanchez out of the cruiser just in case the car caught fire. CSP said he was responsive at the time, but he died on the way to the hospital.

CSP said they are now investigating how the suspect stole the car, since all law enforcement vehicles are equipped with an anti-theft device.

“Specifically did our trooper use that device? Did he take steps to use it or not use it? Or did it malfunction or was the suspect able to defeat it?” Packard said.

Packard added they will also be looking at the final stop-stick deployment.

“Sometimes you’re picking the better of two evils to figure out what is in the best interest of public safety, because at the end of the day, that’s what we’re really trying to do is preserve life whether it’s a suspect or an innocent motorist.”

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation will be investigating the incident based on the footage and will determine nexts steps.