Crash, car fire after chase through Cheyenne

A Colorado man is in custody after leading Cheyenne Police and a chase.

Throughout the afternoon of September 19, CPD received numerous calls regarding a gold SUV driving recklessly throughout town. At about 2:00 p.m., our officers located the vehicle in the area of Lion's Park.

Officers initiated a traffic stop and the driver of the vehicle, Gabriel Villalva, 27, refused to stop.

Villalva led officers on a pursuit around the park and onto a nearby golf course. While fleeing from officers, Villalva struck a CPD police car involved in the pursuit with his vehicle.

Officers were able to deploy spike strips, which successfully stopped the vehicle near 4th Ave. and Hynds Ave. While Villalva's vehicle was stopped, he continued to rev the engine and the vehicle became engulfed in fire.

Officers utilized beanbag rounds and were able to extract Villalva from the vehicle and place him into custody.

The Cheyenne Fire Department extinguished the vehicle fire and Villalva was transported to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center for minor injuries.

This isn't his first run in with Wyoming Law Enforcement. According to the National Park Service, a man with the same name, Gabriel Villalva from Colorado allegedly wandered to close to old faithful last Friday. He now faces multiple charges in that incident including leaving boardwalks in a thermal area and disorderly conduct.

Cheyenne Police haven’t released any charges that Villalva could be facing in regards to Wednesday’s incident.