Man uses blowtorch to detonate propane tank following high-speed chase, causing massive fire
PRESCOTT, AZ (KTVK/KPHO/Gray News) - A man led Arizona officers on a high-speed chase before using a blowtorch to detonate a propane tank, and causing a massive fire.
James Crespo, 70, is facing multiple felony charges in connection to the incident that began late Wednesday afternoon.
Around 4:15 p.m., the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office asked Prescott PD for assistance in apprehending Crespo, who was believed to be in the area.
Crespo was wanted for a felony warrant out of Maricopa County for weapons misconduct and believed to be armed.
Deputies also had information that Crespo had threatened to blow people up, including law enforcement officers.
Officers began searching an area west of the city, near Dearing and Thumb Butte roads, and spotted the 70-year-old suspect driving east towards Prescott. Police tried to pull him over, but Crespo refused to stop.
Other officers were notified and set up spike strips across Thumb Butte Road to prevent the suspect from driving into more populated areas.
Police say Crespo stopped his car as he approached the spike strips, lit a blowtorch he was holding out of the driver’s side window, then continued driving.
He was pursued to a residential area near Country Club Circle and Canada Crescent, where he reportedly rammed a Prescott police patrol vehicle.
Yavapai County deputies then used their vehicles to box in the car, preventing Crespo from driving away.
That’s when police say there was an explosion inside Crespo’s car, which was quickly engulfed in flames.
“I heard the tires popping from the heat. I heard ammunition going off from the heat. It was just crazy,” said Victoria Garnica, a witness who captured video of the explosions.
Crespo, who was injured, then reportedly got out of the car holding the blowtorch and a propane tank, and officers took him into custody.
“It’s actually like the most wild thing I’ve ever witnessed,” said Shawnee Davis, a witness who lives nearby.
Crespo was taken to a nearby hospital and then flown to a Phoenix hospital, where his current condition is unknown.
Neighbors say there was a water main break and some had to be evacuated for a few hours, but everything is back to normal
Crime tape remained up surrounding the burnt trees. A sign in the parking lot of a nearby apartment complex is torched.
“When the biggest explosion happened, it was like a shockwave, you could feel all the heat from it. There were pieces of whatever coming out of the sky, one landed on one of the cop’s cars,” said Garnica.
The explosion also ignited a Yavapai County deputy’s vehicle and the surrounding area, but no one else was hurt.
“I saw the look in the policemen’s faces and they looked really kind of scared, to be honest,” said Sky Conwell, a witness who lives nearby.
It’s not clear what the Glendale man was doing up in Prescott.
According to court records, Crespo was wanted on a warrant for charges including prohibited possession of a weapon by a prohibited person as well as possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia. He also has a previous drug possession conviction from 2021.
All of the neighbors Arizona’s Family spoke with say this could have been worse and it’s a miracle none of the first responders or bystanders were hurt.
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