\u201cSgt. (Adam) Alcon was not reprimanded, as he did nothing wrong,\u201d said Montezuma County Undersheriff Lynda Carter.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no validity to the allegations,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, the sheriff\u2019s office was presented with a $60,000 settlement demand in connection to a June 10, 2013, traffic stop that Alcon initiated on the 6000 block of Highway 160 for failure to display a valid automobile tag.<\/p>\n
The demand from Durango attorney Douglas Reynolds stated that Jami Larson, the driver of the vehicle, and her husband, passenger Jonathan Boyd, were subjected to excessive force, false arrest and custodial mistreatment as a result of the traffic stop.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, District Attorney Will Furse confirmed that his office subsequently dismissed all criminal charges filed by the sheriff\u2019s office against both parties. He declined to comment further.<\/p>\n
In updating county commissioners on Monday, Sheriff Dennis Spruell said the district attorney\u2019s call to shelve the charges opened the door to the potential litigation. He added that claims of civil rights violations were unfounded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m extremely convinced this case is going nowhere,\u201d Spruell told commissioners.<\/p>\n
In a sheriff\u2019s office warrantless affidavit report, Alcon said Boyd was agitated, yelled obscenities and at one point started to \u201cflail his arms\u201d in an \u201caggressive manner\u201d while sitting in the passenger seat of the vehicle. A holstered .40 caliber handgun, reportedly loaded with a round in the chamber, was retrieved from the backseat of the suspect\u2019s vehicle, according to the affidavit. No statements were included in the affidavit that Boyd was ever in physical possession of the firearm.<\/p>\n
Although detailed accounts from husband and wife differ from those of responding law enforcement, there\u2019s no dispute that Alcon threatened to tase Larson before forcing her to the ground. Accounts from both sides also agree that Boyd was held at gunpoint once he attempted to walk away from the scene.<\/p>\n
To reveal how actual events unfolded, the Cortez Journal requested a copy of camera footage from Alcon\u2019s patrol car. Reynolds and Boyd said they too requested the video, but no recorded surveillance exists of the incident.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no video or audio,\u201d Carter said. \u201cNot all of the older cars have cameras that work.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a seven-page written complaint filed against the sheriff\u2019s office seven days after the incident, Boyd accused Alcon of violating his oath of duty, including the use of \u201cexcessive\u201d and \u201cbrutal\u201d force.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Alcon) beat my wife\u2019s ass,\u201d he said this week.<\/p>\n
In addition to disputed accounts between litigants, conflicting eyewitness statements have also been reported. Contained in a nine-page incident report the Cortez Journal obtained from the sheriff\u2019s office for a $6 fee, citizen Ron Pledger said Larson was given three \u201cchances\u201d to comply before she was forced to the ground. Pledger indicated on a June 10 voluntary witness statement that he worked at Redburn Tire Co.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe man in the car keep yelling I\u2019m gona kick your ass,\u201d Pledger wrote. \u201cI\u2019m gonna kill you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reynolds disagreed, saying the deputy\u2019s actions, instead, were a \u201ccomplete overreaction,\u201d a claim he said eyewitness Cheryl Dean could verify. He added deputies refused to take Dean\u2019s statement, which contrasted Pledger\u2019s \u201cmore supportive of (law enforcements) version of events.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Cheryl Dean of the Antique Corral was provided with a copy of Sgt. Alcon\u2019s report to review, she found his description of the incident to be laughably inaccurate,\u201d Reynolds penned in the settlement demand. \u201cShe and her employee, Marty Karston, have both opined that the reaction of and the amount of force used by Sgt. Alcon in the incident was completely excessive and unnecessary given the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n