A man riding an e-bike on the sidewalk in the 100 block of West Alameda Avenue tried to outrun Denver police on August 3, crashing to the ground before leading officers on a foot chase through a gas station parking lot that ended with a struggle, an arrest, and the discovery of a ghost gun.
According to the FOX31 Denver report, officers patrolling the Baker neighborhood spotted the man driving his e-bike on the sidewalk and attempted a traffic stop. Instead of pulling over, the rider fled from Denver police, struck a curb, flipped over his handlebars, and hit the ground before scrambling up and continuing to flee on foot. Officers eventually caught up with him after a short struggle and took him into custody.
West Alameda Avenue runs along the southern edge of the Baker Historic District, a designation established in 2000 that preserves 19th-century architecture alongside the neighborhood's busier commercial strips, according to the City and County of Denver. It's one of the city's older residential enclaves, sitting just south of downtown.
Sidewalk Stop Turns Up a Ghost Gun
Once the man was in custody, police determined he was carrying what's known as a ghost gun — a privately made firearm not manufactured by a corporate or government entity — and identified him as a previously convicted felon. He was medically cleared after the crash and arrested on investigation of possession of a weapon by a previous offender, the outlet's report states.
That charge, formally known as POWPO under Colorado Revised Statutes § 18-12-108, bars anyone with a qualifying prior felony conviction from possessing a firearm and carries penalties ranging from a Class 6 to a Class 5 felony, with prison exposure up to three years, according to FindLaw. Prosecutors must prove the suspect knowingly possessed the weapon along with a qualifying prior conviction. It remains unclear what underlying felony conviction established the man's status under the statute, and whether the e-bike he was riding was his own or a shared rental unit.
The ghost gun itself could also trigger charges under Colorado's Senate Bill 23-279, enacted in 2023, which made knowingly possessing, purchasing, or transferring an unserialized firearm, frame, or receiver a Class 1 misdemeanor punishable by up to 364 days in jail, with a second or subsequent violation escalating to a Class 5 felony, per the Colorado General Assembly. Lawmakers passed that law specifically to close loopholes around unserialized firearms and DIY gun assembly kits.
An Unsettled Legal Fight Over Ghost Guns
Colorado's ghost gun ban remains under active legal challenge. In April, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit ruled in National Association for Gun Rights v. Polis that the state's ban implicates Second Amendment rights, sending the case back to federal district court, according to USA Carry. Gun rights groups had sued state officials in 2024 seeking to overturn the prohibition. Separately, Colorado lawmakers further tightened restrictions on privately manufactured weapons through House Bill 26-1144, which took effect July 1 and explicitly bans producing functional firearms, unfinished frames, receivers, or rapid-fire devices using 3D printing technology.
The traffic stop itself started over conduct that's illegal under city rules: Denver requires e-bikes to stay on street roadways or in designated bike lanes, banning sidewalk riding except when a trip is beginning or ending. The city's regulations also distinguish legitimate e-bikes, which top out around 20 to 28 mph across three power classes, from higher-powered vehicles that exceed that threshold and must be registered as motor vehicles under Colorado Department of Transportation guidelines.
A Regional Crackdown on Sidewalk E-Bikes
Denver isn't alone in tightening the reins on sidewalk e-bike riding. In May, the city consolidated its shared micro-mobility program under a single operator, Veo, adding sidewalk-detection geofencing technology aimed at curbing illegal riding after residents submitted hundreds of complaints about hazards. On Thursday, the City Council in nearby Centennial passed its own ordinance banning high-powered e-bikes, electric dirt bikes, and electric motorcycles from sidewalks, trails, and open spaces, following reports from local fire districts of rising rider injuries linked to high-speed e-vehicles.
The Baker arrest also lands amid a broader regional push against illegal firearms. Earlier in August, a multi-agency task force that included the Denver Police Department seized 46 illegal firearms along with narcotics and explosive devices during joint enforcement operations across the city, underscoring how frequently weapons cases are turning up during otherwise routine police encounters.
Hoodline has previously reported on Denver's e-bike enforcement struggles, including a mother's fight after a deadly crash and a hit-and-run that left a cyclist badly hurt near Knox Court. The Baker case also echoes a similar incident detailed in Hoodline's earlier coverage of a traffic stop that turned into a ghost gun bust.
