Suspect tazered by Aurora police during arrest dies in hospital

A man who ran from Aurora police officers Thursday and was tazered during his arrest died Sunday.

Shane Ledbetter gave false information about his identity, police said, then took off through Mission Viejo Park. Officers captured Ledbetter in a creek bed, where he struggled so violently he was tasered twice so officers could handcuff him.

Ledbetter became unresponsive as officers brought him up from the creek bed, police said. Officers started CPR and called for paramedics. Ledbetter was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, where he died Sunday.

Ledbetter was found to be wanted on six felony warrants for his arrest, including one for escape issued out of Jefferson County in 2004, police said.

The Arapahoe County coroner’s office will perform an autopsy on Ledbetter early this week, but the final determination on the cause of his death will await toxicology reports, and those could take several weeks, police said.

An Aurora officer injured during the foot chase and arrest remains on medical leave, police said.

The pursuit began when three officers were at a home on South Mission Parkway and East Nassau Drive around 11:30 a.m. Thursday looking for a 19-year-old man who was wanted on several arrest warrants, including a felony, statewide extradition warrant, 7 News reported Thursday.

Officers found the man — Markus Alec Gabel — inside the home and arrested him without incident.

But as officers continued their investigation and noted the drug paraphernalia in the home, Ledbetter ran off.