According to a report, Juan Barreneche, a 37-year-old resident of Florida, started Monday morning in the Morgan County, Colorado jail, where he had been held since his arrest on Sunday night for suspected trespassing at a motel, as reported by a local station. Barreneche paid a personal recognizance bail and was free to go by 4:00 a.m. But his freedom didn’t last long.
Scott Copass was pulling into the parking lot of the Recreation Fieldhouse for his maintenance work on the morning of Monday, July 24, when a guy approached him from across the lot. It was Juan Barreneche, who had been released from prison an hour earlier.
Fort Morgan law enforcement reports that Barreneche approached a truck driver and begged for a ride. According to Copass, Barreneche was certain that he was being followed. Barreneche grabbed Copass by the collar and tossed him to the ground after Copass declined to give him a lift, causing a fight to break out in the parking lot.
Copass retained enough of his faculties to leap into the truck’s bed as Barreneche drove off and then dial 911 to report the event.
Barreneche allegedly ran from police in Northeast Colorado at a speed of up to 108 mph. Between Otis and Yuma, police used stop sticks to blow out the tires of the car and capture Barreneche.
Reports show Barreneche is in jail without bail on charges of second-degree aggravated motor vehicle theft, robbery, reckless driving, reckless endangerment, first-degree criminal trespassing, and third-degree assault at the Morgan County Detention Center. Sharp speculated that he might have been prosecuted with abduction if he knew the owner was in the truck bed.
According to Colorado law, a kidnapping is defined as the illegal confinement of another person and the coerced relocation of that individual from one location to another.
Taking somebody for ransom is considered abduction in the first degree, whereas all other illegal takings fall under the second degree. The penalty for abduction in the first degree ranges from 8 years to life in prison, depending on the circumstances of the offense.
