On September 25th, 2025, at about 4:00PM the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office and the Salida Police Department were issues a Be On the Look Out for (BOLO) a grey Chevy Silverado pickup that was allegedly driven by Phillip Lee Torres, age 46 from Thornton, CO. As we were receiving the BOLO an AMBER alert was broadcast by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation that went out to most cellular phones in the state for the same vehicle and Torres’s 14-year-old son who was allegedly with him.

Torres was not allowed to be with his son who he allegedly took somewhere in Thorton without the consent of his caregivers or the state. Torres had allegedly just recently been released from jail on bond and ankle monitor for serious child sex assault and kidnapping charges that he was about to go to trial on. Torres had cut his ankle monitor off this day in the Denver area and was believed to be running out of state or to Mexico. An arrest warrant had also been sworn out for Torres’s arrest out of Adams County for Kidnapping of a Child (sex assault) class 2 Felony, Sex Assault Under Fifteen Aided with a Weapon a class 2 Felony, Enticement of a Child with Bodily Injury a class 3 Felony, 1st Degree Assault Strangulation a class 3 Felony and Aggravated Sex Assault on a Child a Class 3 Felony. The bond on the warrant was $300,000.00 cash.

Thorton Police Department also alleged that Torres’s vehicle was located on one of our local license plate reader cameras in Poncha Springs (Chaffee County) that they had access to. Because the AMBER alert had been broadcast, we also started receiving calls into our dispatch center from very attentive citizens in Chaffee County who had observed the vehicle on roadways around the Salida and Poncha Springs area.

With assistance from the community Torres and his vehicle were spotted by Salida Officers in the downtown area of Salida, CO. A traffic stop was attempted but Torres fled. The Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office and the Salida Police Department pursued Torres westbound on highway 50, through Poncha Springs and North on Hwy 285 at times exceeding speeds of over 100 miles per hour. Officers and Deputies were able to successfully deploy stop sticks which are used to deflate the tires.

Torres’s vehicle, now disabled, finally came to a stop on Highway 285 just south of the Highway 285 and Highway 291 Junction. Torres had fled from officers and deputies for approximately 15 miles. Torres was taken into custody by deputies, and his son was rescued from the vehicle,

uninjured. Torres was taken to the Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center in Salida for precautionary purposes as he complained of minor injuries, but no other injuries or property damage was reported.

Torres was transported to the Chaffee County Detention Facility where he was held on the warrant along with an additional $5,000.00 cash bond for the charges of:

Vehicular Eluding created a Substantial Risk of Bodily Injury by Operating a Vehicle in a Reckless Manner class 5 Felony, Child Abuse (Knowingly or Recklessly where no Death or Injury Results) a class 2 Misdemeanor, Reckless Endangerment a class 2 Misdemeanor, Violation of a Criminal Protection Order a class 1 Misdemeanor, Reckless Driving a class 2 Traffic Misdemeanor, Speeding (40 or More Over the Posted Speed Limit) a class 2 Traffic Misdemeanor and Drove Motor Vehicle When License Under Restraint a class A Traffic Infraction.

Torres is presumed innocent until/unless proven guilty in a court of law. Torres’s son was safely reunited with his family and caregivers.

“Law Enforcement related vehicle pursuits are extremely dangerous, not just for the officers involved and the subject being pursed, but for the community. There are certain instances where terminating a pursuit is just not an option and this was one of those situations. The risk to not only public but to the child in the vehicle was too high to allow a very dangers man like Torres to get away. I was in awe watching our local agencies working together, deploying their high level of training, putting an end to this situation utilizing non-lethal means. The citizens of Chaffee County should sleep well at night knowing the men and women of their local law enforcement agencies are out preventing the evil from haunting them.” -Sheriff Andy Rohrich