It appeared to be a minor traffic accident - a black Dodge slowly veering off Wadsworth Boulevard and crashing into a chain-link fence.

But it was murder.

Wheat Ridge police officers searched through the day Wednesday for 35-year-old Tyler J. Martin, of Denver, suspected of forcing his ex-girlfriend's car off the road, then shooting her to death as a horrified witness watched nearby from his pickup truck.

The victim was identified as Amber Cremeens, 34. She and Martin had dated for about eight years before the relationship ended last August, according to court documents. Since then, according to an affidavit filed with an arrest warrant for Martin, he had followed her and "called her numerous times."

According to court documents, detectives believe Cremeens was trying to escape Martin on Tuesday night before she crashed in the 3600 block of Wadsworth Boulevard. At some point, police say they believe Martin fired a shot at Cremeens' moving vehicle.

After the crash, a nearby motorist who saw the wreck dialed 911 on his cell phone.

Just then, the motorist heard a bang and immediately assumed a tire had exploded, the logical aftermath of the car smashing into the curb.

"That caught my attention and I looked up at the car and I saw the man standing there," said the witness, who asked that his name not be used.

The man had a gun.

"That's when I saw him fire two more shots into the driver's side window at point-blank," the witness said in an interview with the Rocky Mountain News.

Then the man walked back to his own car, jumped in and sped off.

According to an affidavit, Cremeens' relationship with Martin was so rocky that her current boyfriend transferred her bills and her phone into his name to help hide her whereabouts.

The incident started just before 10 p.m. Tuesday when Cremeens pulled out of a 24-Hour Fitness center at 4600 W. 38th Ave. She realized she was being followed and called her boyfriend, telling him that her pursuer "was weaving in and out of traffic and making abrupt lane changes," according to court documents.

Cremeens' boyfriend suggested she turn down a side street and try to lose the car. Moments later, she thought she was in the clear, according to court documents, before realizing the green Mercury Mystique was behind her again.

She blurted out the car's license number - it was registered to Martin, according to court documents - and said the man was trying to force her off the road.

She grew hysterical just before the line went dead.

The boyfriend called Wheat Ridge police, telling them what Cremeens had said. Officers headed toward the area of 44th Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard, the last location she had relayed.

In the meantime, the other motorist saw Cremeens' car weave just before it crashed and stopped to help, then watched helplessly as the gunman opened fire.

Wheat Ridge officers arrived quickly, but Cremeens was dead when they got there, a gunshot wound visible in the left side of her head.

The 6-foot-1, 250-pound Martin was believed to be driving the 1998 Mercury with Colorado license plate number 720-SXA, Wheat Ridge police spokeswoman Lisa Stigall said Wednesday.

Denver SWAT officers kicked down the door of Martin's home at 1355 Osceola St. on Wednesday after using a black armored vehicle to approach the home from the alley and a large white van to approach the front of the house. Undercover Wheat Ridge detectives accompanied them on the raid.

The SWAT officers left the home after determining that Martin wasn't there. Police crime-scene technicians combed the house for evidence.

Joseph Fernandez, 68, lives next door to Martin. He described Martin as nice enough, but "real quiet."

Fernandez said he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary until police came to his house early Wednesday morning to ask questions about Martin, who had lived in the neatly kept gray house next door for about five months.

He said sometimes Martin would leave for three days at a time, but Fernandez said he didn't know where Martin went.

Fernandez's daughter, Darlene Garcia, 46, said she was in the neighborhood visiting a friend Friday night and overheard Martin say something that may have been a portent of the violence to come.

According to Garcia, he said he was "finally going to see her again."

Staff writer Julie Poppen contributed to this report.

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