CASTLE ROCK, Colo — A 22-year-old Denver man was sentenced Wednesday after leading Douglas County deputies on a chase and firing a weapon as he tried to escape last year.
Douglas County District Court Judge Jeffrey Holmes sentenced convicted felon Manuelito Dewane Vigil to 10 years in the Department of Corrections, the maximum allowed under a plea agreement.
Vigil was arrested one day following the January 2019 incident and pleaded guilty to several charges including aggravated motor vehicle theft and violating his bail bond conditions, and possession of a weapon by a previous offender. Other counts were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
The incident began early in the morning on January 27, 2019, when Douglas County Sheriff’s deputies were notified of reports of a man driving a gray van trying to break into vehicles in Highlands Ranch, according to a press release from the district attorney's office.
A responding deputy quickly located the suspect vehicle; it eluded the deputy.
Another deputy picked up the trail and reported shots had been fired from the van by the masked driver as it sped away. Shell casings were found at the scene.
The gray van was determined to have been stolen. It was located in Commerce City. Vigil was arrested at his home in Denver and seven firearms were found in his home, along with a ballistic vest and a mask, the release read.
Vigil was on a failed probation in a deferred judgment in a Weld County felony case and was on bond out of Arapahoe County when the crime took place, officials said.