DUI suspect arrested after wrong-way crash, eats watermelon in Lone Tree home

A wrong-way driver who struck another vehicle on Lincoln Avenue in Lone Tree was arrested after he fled into a nearby home and was found in the kitchen eating watermelon from the refrigerator. Lone Tree police said the crash happened around 10 a.m. on June 2 and quickly turned into a hit-and-run investigation with a drunk-driving suspect on the loose.

A witness told police the driver hit another vehicle and left the scene. Officers then tracked him to a nearby home, where the homeowner initially thought the man was a construction worker on the property. That changed when the homeowner heard the refrigerator open and called police.

Body camera footage showed officers arresting the unnamed suspect in the kitchen, with a bowl of watermelon nearby. Police said the suspect was taken into custody at the home and later booked into the Douglas County Jail.

During the investigation, officers determined the driver was under the influence. A preliminary breath test showed a blood alcohol content of 0.122, well above the legal limit for driving in Colorado. Police said the suspect now faces felony trespassing, DUI, careless driving, failure to report an accident and leaving the scene of an accident.

The crash underscored how quickly an impaired wrong-way driver can put people in danger on a busy corridor in the heart of Lone Tree. Lincoln Avenue carries steady traffic through the city, and the sequence of events, a crash, a flight into a residence and an arrest in a stranger’s kitchen, left police with charges that reach beyond the traffic offense itself. For Douglas County residents, the case also highlighted how a hit-and-run can escalate into a home intrusion within minutes when a driver is intoxicated and trying to escape.