24CA0111 Peo v Pratt 04-23-2026
COLORADO COURT OF APPEALS
Court of Appeals No. 24CA0111 Douglas County District Court No. 23CR415 Honorable Ryan J. Stuart, Judge
The People of the State of Colorado,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Kevin Jodie Pratt,
Defendant-Appellant.
JUDGMENT AFFIRMED IN PART AND VACATED IN PART, AND CASE REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS
Division III Opinion by JUDGE HARRIS Dunn and Moultrie, JJ., concur
NOT PUBLISHED PURSUANT TO C.A.R. 35(e) Announced April 23, 2026
Philip J. Weiser, Attorney General, Erin K. Grundy, First Assistant Attorney General, Denver, Colorado, for Plaintiff-Appellee
Megan A. Ring, Colorado State Public Defender, Rachel Z. Geiman, Deputy State Public Defender, Denver, Colorado, for Defendant-Appellant ¶1 A jury found defendant, Kevin Jodie Pratt, guilty of aggravated
motor vehicle theft, vehicular eluding, and reckless driving.
¶2 On appeal, Pratt challenges the sufficiency of the evidence
supporting his convictions and, in the alternative, argues that his
reckless driving conviction must merge into the vehicular eluding
conviction. We reject Pratt’s sufficiency challenges but agree with
his merger argument; therefore, we vacate the reckless driving
conviction and remand the case for correction of the mittimus.
I. Background
¶3 After learning that Pratt was driving a stolen car, officers in a
special motor vehicle theft unit began to follow him in unmarked
cars as he drove through parking lots and then on surface streets
toward the interstate.
¶4 When Pratt approached the highway on-ramp, one of the
unit’s officers activated the lights and sirens on his pickup truck.
Pratt did not pull over, so another officer waiting near the on-ramp
deployed a spike strip, a long tube with nails inside designed to
puncture and slowly deflate a vehicle’s tires. Pratt ran over the
spike strip and continued accelerating to merge onto the highway.
The officers followed Pratt onto the highway but, consistent with
1 police department protocol, turned off their lights and sirens and
observed the speed limit.
¶5 Pratt drove on the highway for approximately a mile as the
driver’s side tires slowly deflated. After the tires began to smoke
and shred apart in traffic, rendering the car inoperable, Pratt pulled
the car to the side of the road. He and two passengers attempted to
flee on foot but were quickly apprehended.
¶6 The prosecution charged Pratt with, as relevant here,
aggravated motor vehicle theft, vehicular eluding, and reckless
driving.1 The jury found Pratt guilty of all charges.
II. Sufficiency of the Evidence Challenges
¶7 Pratt challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain his
convictions. He says that the prosecution failed to prove that he
drove recklessly, and because reckless driving is an element of
vehicular eluding and aggravated motor vehicle theft, all three
convictions must be vacated.
1 Pratt was also charged with, and found guilty of, obstruction of
justice, but he does not challenge that conviction on appeal.
2 A. Standard of Review
¶8 On a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, we review the
record de novo to determine whether the relevant evidence, both
direct and circumstantial, when viewed as a whole and in the light
most favorable to the prosecution, is substantial and sufficient to
support a conclusion by a rational jury that the defendant is guilty
beyond a reasonable doubt. Johnson v. People, 2023 CO 7, ¶ 13.
¶9 In conducting our review, we adhere to certain well-settled
principles. It is the jury’s role to evaluate the credibility of the
witnesses, determine the weight to give evidence, and resolve
conflicts or inconsistencies in the evidence. People v. Poe, 2012
COA 166, ¶ 14. We do not serve as a “thirteenth juror” to second-
guess findings that are supported by the evidence, Thomas v.
People, 2021 CO 84, ¶ 10 (citation omitted), or substitute our
judgment for that of the jury, People v. Strickler, 2022 COA 1, ¶ 11.
Our role is to determine whether the prosecution satisfied its
burden to present sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable
doubt every element of the charged offense. Thomas, ¶ 10.
3 B. Reckless Driving Conviction
¶ 10 A person commits reckless driving when he drives a motor
vehicle “in such a manner as to indicate either a wanton or a willful
disregard for the safety of persons or property.” § 42-4-1401(1),
C.R.S. 2025.
¶ 11 According to Pratt, because he did not engage in any
“affirmative” dangerous acts — speeding, cutting off other drivers,
or disobeying traffic rules — the prosecution failed to prove a willful
disregard for the safety of others.
¶ 12 In our view, though, a rational jury could have concluded,
based on the following evidence and inferences that could
reasonably be drawn from it, that Pratt committed reckless driving
by continuing to drive on a highway even after he ran over the spike
strip and after his tires deflated and began to smoke.
• An officer activated his lights and siren in an attempt to
stop Pratt before Pratt took the on-ramp to the highway.
Pratt was aware of the officer but disregarded the signal to
stop.
4 • Shortly thereafter, Pratt ran over the spike strip. He saw
the officer deploy the spike strip, proceeded anyway, and
felt the strip as he ran over it.
• Despite knowing that he had run over the spike strip, Pratt
continued to accelerate and merged onto the highway.
• After approximately thirty seconds of driving, Pratt’s driver’s
side tires were flat. Pratt continued driving in one of the
middle lanes of the highway with dozens of other cars
around him.
• Twenty-five seconds later, the flat tires began to smoke and
shred apart while Pratt drove. Pratt could have seen the
smoke. He continued to drive at highway speeds.
• Thirty seconds after smoke appeared, rubber came off the
flat tires and flew onto the highway. An officer saw other
vehicles driving over the debris.
• About ten seconds later, and only after the tires were
“completely shredded” and the car had effectively become
inoperable, Pratt finally pulled over to the side of the
highway and ran from the scene.
5 ¶ 13 Viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, the
evidence was sufficient for a jury to find that Pratt consciously and
willfully disregarded the safety of his passengers and other drivers
by continuing to drive at a high speed on a crowded highway for
more than ninety seconds after he knowingly ran over the spike
strip and for more than sixty seconds after his tires deflated.
¶ 14 According to Pratt, though, he would not have known it was
dangerous to continue driving until after the tires started to smoke
(about a minute after he drove over the spike strip), and, at that
point, he took only thirty-five seconds (forty by our count) to
carefully move to the shoulder and stop the car. Rather than
showing a willful disregard for others’ safety, he says, the timing
shows that he made safe decisions.
¶ 15 Even assuming that this is one reasonable interpretation of
the evidence, it is not the only one. As we have explained, the jury
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24CA0111 Peo v Pratt 04-23-2026
COLORADO COURT OF APPEALS
Court of Appeals No. 24CA0111 Douglas County District Court No. 23CR415 Honorable Ryan J. Stuart, Judge
The People of the State of Colorado,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Kevin Jodie Pratt,
Defendant-Appellant.
JUDGMENT AFFIRMED IN PART AND VACATED IN PART, AND CASE REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS
Division III Opinion by JUDGE HARRIS Dunn and Moultrie, JJ., concur
NOT PUBLISHED PURSUANT TO C.A.R. 35(e) Announced April 23, 2026
Philip J. Weiser, Attorney General, Erin K. Grundy, First Assistant Attorney General, Denver, Colorado, for Plaintiff-Appellee
Megan A. Ring, Colorado State Public Defender, Rachel Z. Geiman, Deputy State Public Defender, Denver, Colorado, for Defendant-Appellant ¶1 A jury found defendant, Kevin Jodie Pratt, guilty of aggravated
motor vehicle theft, vehicular eluding, and reckless driving.
¶2 On appeal, Pratt challenges the sufficiency of the evidence
supporting his convictions and, in the alternative, argues that his
reckless driving conviction must merge into the vehicular eluding
conviction. We reject Pratt’s sufficiency challenges but agree with
his merger argument; therefore, we vacate the reckless driving
conviction and remand the case for correction of the mittimus.
I. Background
¶3 After learning that Pratt was driving a stolen car, officers in a
special motor vehicle theft unit began to follow him in unmarked
cars as he drove through parking lots and then on surface streets
toward the interstate.
¶4 When Pratt approached the highway on-ramp, one of the
unit’s officers activated the lights and sirens on his pickup truck.
Pratt did not pull over, so another officer waiting near the on-ramp
deployed a spike strip, a long tube with nails inside designed to
puncture and slowly deflate a vehicle’s tires. Pratt ran over the
spike strip and continued accelerating to merge onto the highway.
The officers followed Pratt onto the highway but, consistent with
1 police department protocol, turned off their lights and sirens and
observed the speed limit.
¶5 Pratt drove on the highway for approximately a mile as the
driver’s side tires slowly deflated. After the tires began to smoke
and shred apart in traffic, rendering the car inoperable, Pratt pulled
the car to the side of the road. He and two passengers attempted to
flee on foot but were quickly apprehended.
¶6 The prosecution charged Pratt with, as relevant here,
aggravated motor vehicle theft, vehicular eluding, and reckless
driving.1 The jury found Pratt guilty of all charges.
II. Sufficiency of the Evidence Challenges
¶7 Pratt challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain his
convictions. He says that the prosecution failed to prove that he
drove recklessly, and because reckless driving is an element of
vehicular eluding and aggravated motor vehicle theft, all three
convictions must be vacated.
1 Pratt was also charged with, and found guilty of, obstruction of
justice, but he does not challenge that conviction on appeal.
2 A. Standard of Review
¶8 On a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, we review the
record de novo to determine whether the relevant evidence, both
direct and circumstantial, when viewed as a whole and in the light
most favorable to the prosecution, is substantial and sufficient to
support a conclusion by a rational jury that the defendant is guilty
beyond a reasonable doubt. Johnson v. People, 2023 CO 7, ¶ 13.
¶9 In conducting our review, we adhere to certain well-settled
principles. It is the jury’s role to evaluate the credibility of the
witnesses, determine the weight to give evidence, and resolve
conflicts or inconsistencies in the evidence. People v. Poe, 2012
COA 166, ¶ 14. We do not serve as a “thirteenth juror” to second-
guess findings that are supported by the evidence, Thomas v.
People, 2021 CO 84, ¶ 10 (citation omitted), or substitute our
judgment for that of the jury, People v. Strickler, 2022 COA 1, ¶ 11.
Our role is to determine whether the prosecution satisfied its
burden to present sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable
doubt every element of the charged offense. Thomas, ¶ 10.
3 B. Reckless Driving Conviction
¶ 10 A person commits reckless driving when he drives a motor
vehicle “in such a manner as to indicate either a wanton or a willful
disregard for the safety of persons or property.” § 42-4-1401(1),
C.R.S. 2025.
¶ 11 According to Pratt, because he did not engage in any
“affirmative” dangerous acts — speeding, cutting off other drivers,
or disobeying traffic rules — the prosecution failed to prove a willful
disregard for the safety of others.
¶ 12 In our view, though, a rational jury could have concluded,
based on the following evidence and inferences that could
reasonably be drawn from it, that Pratt committed reckless driving
by continuing to drive on a highway even after he ran over the spike
strip and after his tires deflated and began to smoke.
• An officer activated his lights and siren in an attempt to
stop Pratt before Pratt took the on-ramp to the highway.
Pratt was aware of the officer but disregarded the signal to
stop.
4 • Shortly thereafter, Pratt ran over the spike strip. He saw
the officer deploy the spike strip, proceeded anyway, and
felt the strip as he ran over it.
• Despite knowing that he had run over the spike strip, Pratt
continued to accelerate and merged onto the highway.
• After approximately thirty seconds of driving, Pratt’s driver’s
side tires were flat. Pratt continued driving in one of the
middle lanes of the highway with dozens of other cars
around him.
• Twenty-five seconds later, the flat tires began to smoke and
shred apart while Pratt drove. Pratt could have seen the
smoke. He continued to drive at highway speeds.
• Thirty seconds after smoke appeared, rubber came off the
flat tires and flew onto the highway. An officer saw other
vehicles driving over the debris.
• About ten seconds later, and only after the tires were
“completely shredded” and the car had effectively become
inoperable, Pratt finally pulled over to the side of the
highway and ran from the scene.
5 ¶ 13 Viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, the
evidence was sufficient for a jury to find that Pratt consciously and
willfully disregarded the safety of his passengers and other drivers
by continuing to drive at a high speed on a crowded highway for
more than ninety seconds after he knowingly ran over the spike
strip and for more than sixty seconds after his tires deflated.
¶ 14 According to Pratt, though, he would not have known it was
dangerous to continue driving until after the tires started to smoke
(about a minute after he drove over the spike strip), and, at that
point, he took only thirty-five seconds (forty by our count) to
carefully move to the shoulder and stop the car. Rather than
showing a willful disregard for others’ safety, he says, the timing
shows that he made safe decisions.
¶ 15 Even assuming that this is one reasonable interpretation of
the evidence, it is not the only one. As we have explained, the jury
could have determined that Pratt “consciously ch[ose] a dangerous
course of action,” Martin v. People, 495 P.2d 537, 539 (Colo. 1972),
when he continued to drive at a high speed for more than a minute
after his tires were flat.
6 ¶ 16 It is the jury’s role, not ours, to decide whether the evidence
weighs more heavily in favor of the prosecution or the defense. Poe,
¶ 14. And “where reasonable minds could differ,” the evidence is
sufficient to sustain the conviction. People v. Yeadon, 2018 COA
104, ¶ 21, aff’d, 2020 CO 38.
¶ 17 Because we conclude that the evidence was sufficient to
support Pratt’s reckless driving conviction, we reject Pratt’s
argument that, by extension, his vehicular eluding and aggravated
motor vehicle theft convictions are unsupported by sufficient
evidence because they were dependent on the reckless driving
conviction.2
C. Vehicular Eluding Conviction
¶ 18 A person commits the crime of vehicular eluding if, while
operating a motor vehicle, he (1) knowingly eludes or attempts to
elude a police officer who is also operating a motor vehicle; (2)
knows or reasonably should know that he was being pursued by
2 Because we conclude that the evidence was sufficient to sustain
the reckless driving conviction, we need not resolve the parties’ dispute concerning whether the jury had access, during deliberations, to the entirety of an officer’s body camera footage or only the portion shown during trial.
7 the police officer; and (3) operates his vehicle in a reckless manner.
§ 18-9-116.5(1), C.R.S. 2025.
¶ 19 At trial, a law enforcement witness testified that the officer in
the pickup truck deactivated his lights and siren once he merged
onto the highway, consistent with police department policy, which
“states that officers are only to pursue vehicles for . . . violent
felonies and serious person’s crimes,” and, therefore, the officer in
the pickup truck “was no longer in pursuit of [Pratt’s] vehicle” when
he turned off his lights and siren.
¶ 20 Pratt contends that because the reckless driving element must
occur simultaneously with the officer’s pursuit and because he
drove recklessly on the highway after the officer was no longer in
pursuit, the prosecution failed to prove vehicular eluding. We are
not persuaded.
¶ 21 Even assuming a simultaneity requirement, but see People v.
Sherwood, 5 P.3d 956, 959 (Colo. App. 2000) (The vehicular eluding
statute “does not require that the eluding and the reckless behavior
be simultaneous.”), here, the pursuit and reckless driving occurred
simultaneously.
8 ¶ 22 Our legal analysis of whether the officer’s pursuit continued
after he turned off his lights and siren is not dependent on the
witness’s description of police department protocols or definitions.
See Tidwell v. City & County of Denver, 83 P.3d 75, 82 (Colo. 2003)
(court should not have adopted the definition of “pursuit” from the
police department’s manual). Rather, we look to the ordinary and
common meaning of the word, which is generally found in the
dictionary. Id. To “pursue” means “to follow in order to
overtake[ or] capture” or to “chase.” Webster’s New World College
Dictionary 1166 (4th ed. 1999); see also Black’s Law Dictionary
1495 (12th ed. 2024) (defining “pursue” as “[t]o follow persistently
in order to seize or obtain” or “to chase or hunt”).
¶ 23 An officer’s use of lights and a siren is not dispositive of
whether he is pursuing a suspect. See Tidwell, 83 P.3d at 82
(officer who had not activated his lights and siren was in pursuit of
a driver when he “hurriedly followed the driver in order to
apprehend him”); see also People v. Esparza-Treto, 282 P.3d 471,
479 (Colo. App. 2011) (under the vehicular eluding statute, the
element of pursuit can be proved “absent any audible or visual
signal from the officer”).
9 ¶ 24 After activating his lights and siren for twenty-five seconds,
the officer in the pickup truck deactivated those signals once he
drove onto the highway. But he continued to closely follow Pratt for
the purpose of apprehending him. The officer was about three
seconds behind Pratt when Pratt pulled over and fled the scene.
The officer parked his truck and continued the chase on foot. On
this evidence, a reasonable jury could have found that the officer
was pursuing Pratt (and Pratt was aware of the pursuit) even after
the officer turned off his lights and siren. See Tidwell, 83 P.3d at
82; State v. Johnson, 580 P.3d 20, 27-28 (Kan. 2025) (evidence was
sufficient to show that reckless driving occurred during police
pursuit even though the officer had turned off his lights and siren
because the officer “continued driving in the same direction as [the
defendant] had fled in an effort to locate, overtake, and apprehend
him”).
III. Merger
¶ 25 Pratt contends, the People concede, and we agree that Pratt’s
conviction for reckless driving must nonetheless be vacated.
Because reckless driving is a lesser included offense of vehicular
eluding and both offenses were committed as part of a single
10 criminal episode, the reckless driving conviction must merge into
the vehicular eluding conviction. See People v. Dominguez, 2019
COA 78, ¶¶ 64-65; Esparza-Treto, 282 P.3d at 479.
¶ 26 Accordingly, we vacate the conviction for reckless driving and
remand the case to the trial court for correction of the mittimus.3
IV. Disposition
¶ 27 We affirm Pratt’s convictions for vehicular eluding and
aggravated motor vehicle theft. We vacate the reckless driving
conviction and remand the case to the trial court for correction of
the mittimus. (The portion of the judgment related to the
obstruction of justice conviction remains undisturbed.)
JUDGE DUNN and JUDGE MOULTRIE concur.
3 The mittimus also incorrectly states that Pratt pleaded guilty. On remand, we direct the trial court to correct the mittimus to reflect that Pratt was convicted on the jury’s verdict. See Crim. P. 36; People v. Wood, 2019 CO 7, ¶¶ 39-40 (clerical errors in the mittimus should be corrected pursuant to Crim. P. 36 “to ensure that judgments and sentences are documented accurately”).