A man arrested last year after ramming law enforcement patrol vehicles as he attempted to elude capture was sentenced Friday to 14 years in prison, according to the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office.
Joshua Escandon pleaded guilty to criminal attempt to commit assault in the first degree, along with several other felonies and misdemeanors in numerous criminal cases, according to the DA’s office.
The assault charge arose from an Oct. 4, 2019 incident in a Longmont neighborhood in which Escandon drove his vehicle in reverse at high speeds past crowds of elementary school children, parents and teachers as school was letting out for the day, according to a DA’s office news release. As he attempted to flee, he rammed a Longmont Police Department patrol car and eventually slammed into a Boulder County Sheriff’s Office SUV before being arrested, the release stated.
The chase started as police were investigating a stolen vehicle parked in front of Escandon’s sister’s house on Tulane Court and they attempted to arrest him on multiple felony warrants, according to the release. The home is just a block from Longmont Estates Elementary School.
Police and sheriff’s deputies announced their presence several times when they observed Escandon attempting to crawl out a bedroom window, according to the release. He crawled back into the house when he saw that police were surrounding the home, the DA’s office stated. He eventually came out the front door, “appearing as if he was going to surrender” but instead ran toward his sister’s SUV parked in the driveway. He then put the vehicle in reverse and accelerated onto Tulane Court, narrowly missing several officers on foot and in patrol cars, according to the release.
Escandon continued driving in reverse at high speeds through the area that was “full of elementary school children trying to cross Northwestern Road” and rammed the SUV into a Longmont patrol car before turning onto Drake Street, the release stated.
Police and sheriff’s deputies were able to block the defendant on three sides with their vehicles, but “Deputy Jeff Black, a 15-year veteran of the sheriff’s office, anticipated (Escandon) was going to reverse his vehicle in an attempt to escape,” according to the release. To protect several children that were in the path of the SUV, Black moved his SUV, the DA’s office stated. The SUV driven by Escandon slammed into Black’s patrol vehicle, totaling it, according to the release.
He was arrested after the collision.
“Deputy Black and all of the extremely brave and dedicated members of the Longmont Police Department and the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office on scene put their lives at risk to protect our children and other community members that day and apprehend a dangerous individual,” Senior Deputy District Attorney Anne Kelly stated in the release. “I am honored to work with these men and women. The sentence today reflects the danger that our law enforcement officers and the community faced as a result of Mr. Escandon’s actions. Boulder County is very fortunate to have such outstanding men and women protecting the community.”
