Kruse has been in the La Plata County Jail since the July 25 incident, which occurred on West Eighth Street in front of the Durango Post Office. The man he hit with the car, 37-year-old Kenneth O\u2019Neill, is in prison for assaulting a police officer.<\/p>\n
Sixth Judicial District Judge Suzanne Carlson rejected the public defender\u2019s request Kruse be sentenced only to probation. She noted that although O\u2019Neill \u201creacted like a cat\u201d in landing relatively unscathed after landing on top and then rolling off the hood of Kruse\u2019s car, he could have landed on his head. She also cited Kruse\u2019s criminal history of violence toward others and failure to comply with previous probation requirements.<\/p>\n
\u201cReacting in the moment has been a pattern your whole life,\u201d Carlson said. \u201cReacting badly.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Carlson also noted that Kruse has been making important strides toward recovery while in jail, which included attending anger management, and concluded that a prison sentence would be too much. She also listened to testimony from Kruse\u2019s mother and a neighbor who talked about how well Kruse had been doing before the incident in excelling at his job, paying his rent and bills, and being a good neighbor.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knows what he has done is wrong and I think he\u2019s been in the woodshed long enough,\u201d said neighbor William Shultz, who has been paying Kruse\u2019s rent while he has been in jail so that he will have a home to return to. \u201cHe deserves a fair shake, a chance. He\u2019s a go-getter and he\u2019ll get back to work.\u201d<\/p>\n
The incident that led to Kruse\u2019s arrest and incarceration began when Kruse encountered O\u2019Neill walking slowly across the crosswalk adjacent to the post office. Kruse revved his engine and yelled out the window for O\u2019Neill to hurry up. Kruse testified before his sentencing Friday that he believed O\u2019Neill was high on meth at the time.<\/p>\n
Kruse veered toward O\u2019Neill after he passed. Video shows O\u2019Neill picking up a rock and throwing it at Kruse\u2019s car, then pursuing and confronting Kruse in the post office parking lot. The men squared off before Kruse went inside the post office. When he returned to his car, O\u2019Neill approached again and shattered the passenger window of Kruse\u2019s car before walking back to the street.<\/p>\n
Kruse drove after him, pulling a U-turn in the street to strike O\u2019Neill.<\/p>\n
Kruse testified before sentencing that he knew what he did was wrong and choked with emotion as he said he thought about it every night while in jail.<\/p>\n
\u201cI acted out of fear,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve learned from this and want to get back to the experience I had of living a good life. I\u2019m done. My past is a mess. \u2026 I\u2019ve changed. I apologize to Mr. O\u2019Neill and hope he forgives me. I wish I had done things differently.\u201d<\/p>\n