Doctors declared a 33-year-old Greeley man clinically brain dead on Thursday and removed him from life support four days after he sustained critical injuries while trying to avoid arrest.
Jose Sambrano passed away shortly after his family decided to discontinue life support, given his poor prognosis. Sambrano had been in the intensive care unit of a local hospital since the previous Sunday, when he ran a red light in a stolen truck and collided with another vehicle.
Seconds before that collision, Sambrano had allegedly fled from a Greeley Police officer who identified the stolen truck and tried to pull him over, according to the department’s press release.
The red 1998 Dodge 1500 pickup was reported stolen by its owner on Sunday evening. The owner was dragged by his vehicle as Sambrano drove away with it, suffering serious injuries, according to Greeley PD.
Four hours later, Sambrano resisted the officer’s attempted traffic stop and drove into the intersection at 8th Avenue and 20th Street “at a high rate of speed,” as stated in GPD’s press release. The stolen Dodge collided with a Cadillac SUV traveling on 20th Street. A man, woman, and child were inside the SUV. All three were injured and taken to a hospital, but are expected to fully recover.
It was later discovered that Sambrano was believed to be responsible for a burglary of a home in the 2200 block of 8th Avenue, which occurred just before the attempted traffic stop and had not yet been reported to police. The homeowner was present during the burglary but was unharmed, according to police.
A search of online criminal records shows Sambrano had 25 traffic, misdemeanor, and felony cases since 2009. He was previously convicted as a habitual traffic offender and was sentenced two years ago to time in the Colorado Department of Corrections on a felony trespass charge. Sambrano was arrested 10 days before the fatal accident on a theft charge.