Chase suspect still at large
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Steamboat Springs — A man who led the Colorado State Patrol on a high-speed chase across Routt County last month is still at large after giving local law enforcement a false identity and fleeing the hospital where he was receiving medical treatment for minor injuries received after crashing the stolen vehicle.
The suspect has been identified as James Nicholson, 38. Nicholson gave state troopers his brother's identity at the time of the Nov. 2 incident. His last known address is in Greeley, but law enforcement authorities have been unable to locate him since a statewide alert was put out for his arrest last month.
Nicholson faces three felony and four misdemeanor charges in connection with the incident, State Patrol Sgt. Scott Elliott said.
Nicholson led former state Trooper Rick Kaspar on a high-speed chase after Kaspar attempted to pull him over while ascending Rabbit Ears Pass on U.S. Highway 40. Nicholson made a U-turn in the stolen Lincoln sedan, sped west down the pass and reached speeds of up to 120 mph on Colorado Highway 131 and Routt County Road 14, according to the State Patrol.
Nicholson eventually lost control of the vehicle while attempting a sharp turn from C.R. 14 onto C.R. 14C, with the car coming to a rest upside-down in a field adjacent to the road.
Nicholson sustained minor injuries and was transported via ambulance to Yampa Valley Medical Center, where he eluded arrest by walking out of the hospital in his nightgown at 3 a.m. the next day.
It is common practice for injured suspects to be taken into custody only when they are released from the hospital, since the Routt County Jail has no medical ward, and State Patrol lacks the personnel necessary to guard hospitalized suspects, Elliott said.
Nicholson has been charged with felony charges of vehicular eluding, criminal impersonation, and second-degree aggravated motor vehicle theft, as well as misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence, reckless driving, operating an uninsured motor vehicle and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Comments
dundalk 5 years, 5 months ago
Id: Why don't you call Wall and ask him why he did not seem to feel the need to put on a guard on Mr. Hospital Gown? It would have been the county's responsibility to watch him.
colowoodsman 5 years, 5 months ago
I uderstand that if the State Patrol pulls you over all you need to say is " No hablo Englais" and they will let you go!!!
id04sp 5 years, 5 months ago
Dunone,
According to the article, "It is common practice for injured suspects to be taken into custody only when they are released from the hospital, since the Routt County Jail has no medical ward, and State Patrol lacks the personnel necessary to guard hospitalized suspects, Elliott said."
Did the State Patrol notify the RCSO? Did the RCSO accept responsibility for keeping an eye on this guy? Did RCSO make the decision NOT to post an officer?
I think you'll find that the CSP probably dropped the ball here. Seems to be a lot of that going around. CSP counts in the category of "local BOZOS." They've got time and personnel to stop people who fail to dim their lights, so why not ensure that a dangerous prisoner is guarded?
By the way, isn't the hospital in the city? Wouldn't that be SSPD jurisdiction?
blackthroatedwind 5 years, 5 months ago
Nothing like a bunch of Monday (errrrr.... Tuesday) morning quarterbacks to evaluate ones errors.
RoxyDad 5 years, 5 months ago
I saw this guy speaking to some ducks at Fart Park. They were all discussing how they ducked the police.
id04sp 5 years, 5 months ago
I think he's using his Spider Sense to evade the police, combined with his Lamont Cranston "how to be a shadow" CDs and the fact that OUR LOCAL BOZOS LET THIS FOOL WALK OUT OF THE DAMN HOSPITAL!
We SHOULD lock up the genius who failed to put a guard on him. Sure, it would have cost some overtime, but it would still have been cheaper than taking him into custody and paying for his medical care. That's the real reason he got away.
$18,000,000 F#####G dollars for an office building to house state employees (the new injustice center, unnecessarily built at county expense), but they can't foot the bill to put a dangerous person in a place where he can't hurt anyone else.
panky 5 years, 5 months ago
Hey, bluntman, you brought up an interesting point.
What ABOUT the people at the hospital?
Were THEY protected from a dangerous and obviously desperate person charged with serious felonies?
The hospital staff must request/demand an officer for the safety of their personnel as well as the safety of the other patients.
I'd be really ticked if I would have been a patient at YVMC when would-be felon was brought in with no guard on him.
id04sp 5 years, 5 months ago
blackthroat,
A guy who screws up on Sunday is still guilty of screwing up on Tuesday.
Don't forget that Ted Bundy jumped out a first-story window of a Colorado courthouse law library when he was left alone to do "legal research."
Is it the thin air, or is it just that some of the people we hire to protect us are a bunch of clueless losers who couldn't get a job delivering the mail? What if this guy is a serial killer too? When a person attempts to evade the police in a high-speed chase, it's probably not the first thing he ever did that was against the law. Maybe getting finger prints, DNA and running a check before letting people sit around unguarded should be standard procedure for the CSP. Cutting out tax credits for conservation easements and using the money to fund the CSP to properly handle prisoners might be a good idea. Talk to Al White about that.
corduroy 5 years, 5 months ago
I think the real problem here is there's some guy that essentially got off scott free for a high speed chase, etc etc
It doesn't matter that he was of course a terrible person and fled the hospital, do we know what, if any, mental conditions he may have? It doesn't seem like our police or sheriff is actively searching for this man, for all we know he's already out of Colorado..
No wonder crime is such a huge problem in society, we arrest people for petty things while the real arsehats are still wandering the streets
justathought 5 years, 5 months ago
What's the difference, had he been watched and taken to jail he'd have gotten out before the ink on the paperwork was dry and the DA would have made a plea bargain that wouldn't deter a 10 year old from re-offending.
colowood, saying "No hablo Englais" doesn't work or Wall would have used it.
colowoodsman 5 years, 5 months ago
It worked for one illegal who was in an acident up on Rabbit Ears last summer. No drivers license, insuranse or registration. Since the SP didn't "habla espanol" and no ICE people were available, they just let the @$$H0!e go!!!
dimwitiguess 5 years, 5 months ago
colowoodsman,
Maybe you should go up on the Pass and control that area. We can get others on the north, south, and west sides then we'll be safe and at the same time we'll keep a few @$$H0e$ busy so they can't complain about the SP. Oh, by the way ¿Habla usted Español? No?Stupid Gringo.
id04sp 5 years, 5 months ago
Dimwit,
How about just having the CSP stop doing dumb stuff like this, and then we'll stop complaining?
dimwitiguess 5 years, 5 months ago
id, alls I'm saying is that we can get others to sweep the hills and the highways for illegals. That is probably their "thing."
The CSP is another story. Glorieied meter maids who write tickets for speeding. I'm not defending them laying in wait for the next speeder to come along. It's enough work for them just to write the ticket and figure out if their name tag is on right. Now they have little speedy cars that they use to out run the speeders.
If they get too involved with those who speak no English, they might have to learn another language to deal with them and that is WAY over their heads. What a novel idea! Why aren't they ordered to learn Spanish? Maybe then they could ask, "Where's the fire?" "What's your hurry?" and "Do you know how F** fast you were going?" in Spanish.
"No hablo señor," dimwitiguess
oofcboy 5 years, 5 months ago
call INS ,If you know of illeagals call INS help them find them . hound them into doing something,You can ask them for their green cards ,they need a reason.
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