Durango man pleads guilty to escaping from La Plata County jail – The Journal

Elias Buck suspected of shooting Farmington police officer while on the run in 2022

A Durango man who escaped from the La Plata County Jail and allegedly shot a Farmington police officer while on the ice pleaded guilty Monday to escape, assault and aggravated vehicle theft.

Elias Buck, 25, faces two to six years in prison for the Colorado charges, according to a plea agreement he signed with the 6th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

However, whenever he receives a sentence, it will be served concurrently – or at the same time – with the 10-year federal prison sentence he received for firearms possession, meaning he faces no additional prison time.

It is still possible that the state of New Mexico will bring charges against Buck for the January 7, 2022 shooting of Farmington Police Officer Joseph Barreto.

New Mexico prosecutors had already charged Buck with assaulting a peace officer in connection with the shooting, but dropped the charges to allow federal prosecutors to file weapons charges. Buck faced only six years in prison for shooting a police officer in the arm, but he faced a longer prison sentence for possessing a firearm.

The Colorado charges stem from a series of events that began on Nov. 27, 2021, when Scott Krune, 68, gave Buck a ride from Durango to the Aztecs, according to an arrest affidavit.

Shortly after they started driving, Buck asked Krone to pull over onto County Road 310 near Bondad, saying he needed to stop at a friend’s house. Buck then asked Krune to pull into the landfill and asked Krone to use his cell phone.

The affidavit states that Krone eventually asked Buck for his cell phone back, but Buck refused to return it. Buck then pushed Krune against the driver’s side door and elbowed him in the lip, according to the affidavit. The affidavit states that the incapacitated Krune opened the driver’s side door and exited the vehicle, at which point Buck jumped into the driver’s seat and drove off.

Buck didn’t get far when a car chase by the Aztec Police Department led to his arrest and extradition back to Colorado, where he was booked into the La Plata Jail on Dec. 6, 2021, according to Buck’s second arrest affidavit.

While in the La Plata County Jail, Buck participated in a trust program that allowed inmates to work at the jail to earn a “good time.” Inmate-worker status provides greater freedom to move around prison with less supervision.

The affidavit states that on Dec. 27, 2021, at approximately 5:30 p.m., Buck and other inmates were unsupervised disposing of trash in a dumpster behind the prison’s kitchen when he scaled a fence and fled on foot, according to the affidavit. His disappearance was discovered about an hour later during a people count.

Eleven days later, on January 7, 2022, Officer Barreto attempted to stop the driver of a black Cadillac on suspicion of driving under the influence in Farmington. However, according to the sentencing memorandum in Buck’s federal case, the driver accelerated.

“Officers did not know it at the time, but the driver was the defendant, Elias Buck, a man who had escaped from the Durango County Jail,” the sentencing memo reads.

Officers located the abandoned vehicle in the parking lot and established its perimeter. Barreto exited the vehicle and began searching for the suspect when he noticed a man and a woman walking towards him. Barreto said they both seemed out of breath, as if they were running. As they got closer, Barreto said he recognized the man as Elias Buck.

Barreto asked the man and woman to sit on the ground, but Buck pulled a gun from his pocket, pointed it at the officer’s face and pulled the trigger, according to the sentencing memorandum.

According to federal prosecutors, Officer Barreto was shot once in the arm while reflexively covering his face.

“If Officer Barreto had not reflexively put his hands in the air, the defendant would have faced life in prison for the murder of a police officer,” the federal sentencing memo reads.

After the shooting, Buck remained in a coma for another seven days. He was ultimately located on January 14, 2022 in Phoenix, where he was taken into custody without further incident.

Buck’s sentencing hearing on the Colorado charges is scheduled for September 30.

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