{"id":42602,"date":"2022-01-21T03:33:33","date_gmt":"2022-01-21T10:33:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/freedom-anderson-is-free-to-go-on-conditions-of-probation\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:08:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:08:29","slug":"freedom-anderson-is-free-to-go-on-conditions-of-probation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/freedom-anderson-is-free-to-go-on-conditions-of-probation\/","title":{"rendered":"Freedom Anderson is free to go, on conditions of probation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"A
A Durango man wanted on suspicion of weapons charges crashed a vehicle into a house Monday morning near Eighth Street and East Eighth Avenue. The suspect fled on foot.<\/span>Shane Benjamin\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A man who crashed his car into a Durango home while trying to flee police was sentenced Thursday to two years\u2019 probation.<\/p>\n

Judge Douglas S. Walker, from the 22nd Judicial District, which includes Cortez, accepted a plea deal for Freedom Anderson, 27, who was charged with one count of vehicular eluding. Anderson attended the hearing virtually from La Plata County Jail because he was exposed to COVID-19.<\/p>\n

Anderson had been arrested in January 2021 after he fled from police in a vehicle before crashing into a home near Eighth Street and East Eighth Avenue, and then running on foot. He was wanted on suspicion of a weapons charge.<\/p>\n

The judge handed Anderson a two-year sentence of supervised probation. The terms included that Anderson obtain a substance abuse evaluation, that he abstain from alcohol and elicit drugs during the term of his probation, and that he refrain from driving a motor vehicle of any kind \u2013 including a car, ATV or even a tractor.<\/p>\n

Walker said he accepted Anderson\u2019s guilty plea with skepticism, noting the man\u2019s prior criminal history. He warned Anderson that violation of his probation would earn him nine months with the Colorado Department of Corrections.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t want to be limited to nine months at DOC, Mr. Anderson,\u201d Walker said. \u201cSo you\u2019re not limited to nine months at DOC if you don\u2019t follow through on what you\u2019re telling me today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Anderson\"
Anderson<\/span>Durango Herald file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The judge said because Anderson was on probation when he was arrested in January 2021, he could spend three to six years in prison if he breaks the terms of probation again. He said he does not want to tie the hands of any other judge who may hear a future case against Anderson.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs far as I\u2019m concerned, this is your last chance,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\n

Before Walker accepted Anderson\u2019s plea deal, he asked Anderson why he should consider the plea.<\/p>\n

Anderson said he takes full responsibility for his actions and that he knows he was \u201cdangerous and reckless.\u201d<\/p>\n

In September, Anderson was shot by Clint Simmons, a bail bondsman in Cortez, who was later charged with felony assault.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince being shot, in jail I\u2019ve got a long time and a decent amount of months to think about what I\u2019ve been doing,\u201d Anderson said.<\/p>\n

He said he was driven by drugs and the lifestyle that comes with them, but he wants to change for the better and prove to everyone who doubts him \u2013 and himself \u2013 that he can change.<\/p>\n

cburney@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

27-year-old who crashed a vehicle into a house while eluding police receives two years of probation, banned from driving<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[133,168,28,254],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-42602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-courts","tag-crime","tag-headlines","tag-road-crash"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42602"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42602\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85398,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42602\/revisions\/85398"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42602"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=42602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}