Break-in leads to I-70 high-speed pursuit
Shortly after 11 a.m. Nov. 12, a woman reported that a male intruder had broken into her residence near the city of Glenwood Springs.
According to the warrantless arrest affidavit, upon returning home the woman heard a noise inside of her residence.
The woman had been working in her office next-door and told a deputy with the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office that the front door to the main house was unlocked.
Thinking one of her family members had come home for lunch, the woman said “hello.”
However, instead of receiving a response, the woman heard the backdoor slam shut and witnessed the perpetrator – a white male wearing camouflage clothing – running through the yard according to the affidavit.
After calling 911 the woman went to a nearby parking lot to wait for law enforcement to arrive.
While waiting, the woman “heard noise coming from the bushes behind her” and saw the male suspect face-to-face.
According to the affidavit, the woman yelled “get…out of here, the cops are coming” prompting the suspect to flee in the Toyota Camry.
The reporting party was able to provide dispatch with the vehicle’s license plate number as it headed toward I-70.
Upon arriving on scene, an investigator observed a black bag on a nearby pathway.
Inside of the bag were “3 bottles of wine, sun glasses and a lot of jewelry,” which belonged to the woman and had a combined estimated value of “$16,000” according to the arrest affidavit.
During the investigation, a trooper with Colorado State Patrol observed a Toyota Camry bearing a matching license plate number at a gas station in Gypsum.
When the trooper attempted to get a hold of the suspect, the 45-year-old man immediately got into his vehicle and drove off, which led to a high-speed pursuit on I-70 eastbound.
According to the arrest affidavit, the chase reached speeds of 110 mph.
Additionally, the suspect was “weaving through traffic and also onto the side of the road.”
The vehicle stopped at the Eagle exit and the suspect attempted to getaway on foot before being caught on the south side of the interstate by Colorado State Patrol.
The suspect, later identified as Edgar William Lukoff, was transported to the Garfield County Jail without incident and charged with vehicular eluding, reckless endangerment, obstructing government operations, second degree burglary, first degree criminal trespass and criminal mischief.
Man denies having ever been arrested in Colorado to the trooper that arrested him
On Nov. 13, a trooper with Colorado State Patrol conducted a traffic stop on a Ford truck for speeding on I-70 near South Canyon in Glenwood Springs.
According to the affidavit in support of a warrantless arrest, the 31-year-old male driver presented the trooper with an international driver’s license that had a Salt Lake City address and “felt flimsy.”
Additionally, the man told the trooper a birthdate different than what was on the license.
The driver also denied having ever been arrested in Colorado.
“I knew this to be false information because I now recognized him as a driver I arrested on a DUI crash in 2017,” the trooper stated in the affidavit.
It was later revealed that the 31-year-old male’s actual Colorado license plate had been suspended for a previous, alcohol related offense.
The suspect was later booked into the Garfield County Jail and charged with presenting forged documentation to a police officer, criminal impersonation, driving a vehicle while license under restraint, and speeding 82 mph in a posted 65 mph zone.
