Cassa Niedringhaus, and Alicia Stice

Coloradoan

UPDATE Friday 11:48 a.m.:Manhunt, carjacking suspect in custody. Click here for continued updates on this story.

UPDATE Friday, 9:40 a.m.: Adam Fulford has been apprehended and is in custody per Larimer County Sheriff's Office.

LCSO confirmed the person who carjacked a vehicle near Horsetooth Reservoir on Friday morning then after a high-speed chase crashed the vehicle at U.S. Highway 34 and Wilson Avenue in Loveland is connected to Fulford's capture that came shortly after the carjacking suspect was taken by ambulance to a hospital.

*******

An armed man who escaped from law enforcement twice on Thursday remains at large as of early Friday morning.

Law enforcement suspended the search at 2:42 a.m. Friday for 38-year-old Adam Keith Fulford, whom they failed to find after an intensive manhunt in the area near Larimer County roads 38E and Centennial Drive along Horsetooth Reservoir's east side. That search will resume today to find the wanted felon who shot a taxi driver in Fort Collins then eventually crashed the taxi and fled from officers Thursday evening near the reservoir, according to a Larimer County Sheriff's Office release.

The chaotic scene began to unfold at 6:50 p.m. Thursday when Larimer County Sheriff's Office deputies attempted to arrest Fulford, a Loveland resident, for outstanding felony warrants at the Scotch Pines Condominiums in the 800 block of East Drake Road in Fort Collins. Those warrants include failure to appear for possession of controlled substances and firearms and providing false information to a pawn broker.

More news: Accused mosque vandal posts bond, released from jail

Fort Collins Police Services officers reported to Scotch Pines to assist sheriff's officers and set up a perimeter, including a K9 unit, but they couldn't find Fulford. Investigators talked to residents of an apartment where Fulford was staying and were given permission to search the apartment, where they found firearms and suspicious devices inside the residence belonging to Fulford. The residents of the apartment building were evacuated as a precaution, and the Larimer County Regional Bomb Squad responded to the scene to investigate the suspicious devices.

Meanwhile, Fort Collins police saw a taxi leaving the area and followed it westbound toward College Avenue. The taxi turned southbound on College Avenue and ran a red light. Investigators continued to follow the taxi into Loveland, then westbound on U.S. Highway 34, then northbound on North County Road 27 and eastbound on West County Road 38E.

At about 8:34 p.m., the taxi reached Horsetooth Mountain Park and the driver of the taxi jumped from the moving car. Some investigators stopped to help the driver while others continued to follow the suspect who was then driving the taxi. The adult male taxi driver had been shot once in the limb, so investigators helped him until EMS arrived. He was taken to an area hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Deputies put down spike strips in front of the taxi on West County Road 38E west of Centennial Drive, and at about 8:38 p.m., Fulford crashed the taxi and fled on foot. Deputies blocked roads around Horsetooth Reservoir at West County Road 38E at Centennial Drive, West County Road 38E at Lakeview Drive and Centennial Drive a mile north of West County Road 38E.

More news: 21-year-old hit by car after lying on Fort Collins road

LCSO, FCPS and Larimer County Parks searched for Fulford in the area around Horsetooth Reservoir, and an Everbridge Emergency Notification was sent to 1,100 people (not homes) telling them law enforcement was in the area searching for an armed subject. A helicopter helped law enforcement on the ground, but the search was hampered by darkness, hilly terrain and rain.

While the manhunt continued, an initial search of the man’s apartment turned up a “suspicious device that had the potential to be harmful,” according to FCPS spokesman Matt Johnson.

Officers evacuated the surrounding apartments, and residents stood in the lawn as the bomb squad investigated.

The squad first sent a bomb robot to climb the stairs and roll into the man’s apartment. Then, squad members in thick suits followed up to investigate. No information has been made available about what they found in the apartment or what the suspicious device was. The premises were declared safe about 12:30 a.m., at which point residents were allowed to return after more than four hours of waiting outside.

Tyeisha Rodriguez and Kyle Russell stood in the lawn to watch the progress of the bomb squad. They don't live in the complex but came to see the commotion after visiting the other scene by Horsetooth Reservoir. They had been listening to emergency communications at home when they decided to check it out.

Russell, who was an EMT, said he'd never seen anything like it before.

"It was crazy," Russell said. "We were parked on the side of (County Road 38E). There were at least 50 or 60 police or SWAT or something that passed us. I've never seen that much before ever."

Anyone with information regarding the case is asked to call LCSO at 970-416-1985 or Crime Stoppers at 970-221-6868.