Posted on 05/08/2014 6:00:02 PM PDT by george76
DOTSERO, Colo. - A state trooper was rushed to the hospital after he was shot while helping a driver who was stopped on the side of Interstate 70 near Dotsero.
The Colorado State Patrol identified the trooper as Eugene Hofacker, a 6-year veteran, who is listed in critical but stable condition at Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs. Hofacker is assigned to the Vail Troop Office.
Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario said the trooper was shot as he approached the driver-side window of the suspect's car. A second trooper returned fire and killed the suspect.
...
the dead man is Thomas Ornelas, 41, who has a long criminal history that dates back to a murder he committed as a teenager. His history also includes several parole violations, repeated violations of a protection order, resisting arrest and attempted murder.
Ornelas has six other aliases listed on his record with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. One of the aliases includes the first name, "Sick."
He was awaiting trial on attempted murder and other charges in Mesa County in September.
Ornelas' criminal record begins in 1991, when he was still 17. The CBI record shows the teenager was convicted as an adult of homicide and sent to the Territorial Correctional Facility in Canon City.
(Excerpt) Read more at thedenverchannel.com ...
I should have included you in my #20 post to Gay State Conservative. It was an oversight.
Prayers for a speedy recovery for Officer Hockafer.
As crappy as the cops are these days, state troopers often aren’t part of that crowd. You don’t see them doing the kinds of thing that you see out of say, the LAPD. They generally are more professional with more common sense and restraint.
Underscores the value of 2-man patrol cars and of following the basic training rule “no call is routine.”
1) I'd bet the clothes on my back that,apart from Freepers who've served in combat,I've see more death...more VIOLENT death...than anyone on FR.Having worked for 20 years in the ER of a major hospital located in a major city makes me willing to make that claim.I've seen more murder victims than most Freepers have had hot dinners.I've even seen a couple of murdered cops.When dealing with potentially violent situations I'm willing to give cops the same "benefit of the doubt" that I'm willing to give one of our soldiers,sailors,airmen and Marines while serving in combat.Just as surely as there are US servicemen who are "bad apples",so too there are some cops who are bad apples.
Although I never served in combat..or anywhere near it..I firmly believe that Oliver Stone was full of bleep when he clearly implied in Platoon that it was SOP for our guys in Vietnam to rape and murder innocent civilians just for laughs.And more recently we had the senior Senator from Chappaquiddick making the same accusations regarding our guys in Iraq and Afghanistan.He,too,was a lying sack of ****.And I'm equally convinced that the many Freepers who believe that it's SOP for cops to murder dogs...and people...just for thrills are full of bleep.
Now that IS gay!
Up until 14 years ago i had complete trust in law enforcement and a profound respect for police officers. That was until I was framed by a corrupt cop and justice of the peace. I will never trust any of them ever again.
“I agree. I thought about making a very similar response to GSC but then thought, “Why bother? People like him/her, are going to believe what they want - just like a progressive.”
You were reading my mind! Like a lot of things today, good LEOs have to bear the brunt of the “failings” of their “jackbooted fellow officers.” Hope that the trooper makes a full recovery. No one should be “cheering” this kind of wanton crime.
Same here. Well said Right Brother.
...and out on bail???
Exactly. This guy had already been convicted of murder and, apparently, attempted murder:
The dead man is Thomas Ornelas, 41, who has a long criminal history that dates back to a murder he committed as a teenager. His history also includes several parole violations, repeated violations of a protection order, resisting arrest and attempted murder.
How on earth could he be released under such conditions?
Absurd. It almost seems as if there is a deliberate effort to sow excess mayhem in society. To what end? In order to get the People to surrender still more Freedoms?
It's sheer insanity.
Interesting. I've read similar things here and this mirrors my own (admittedly limited) first-hand experience with LEOs. That is, city/town police tend to have the egos and control issues. I have seen them personally make some questionable calls on what to put in or leave out of official reports. (in one case nearly landing a friend of mine in jail) County sheriff's deputies OTOH have been professional, courteous and confident without being on a power trip. The several I've met I wouldn't mind hanging out with.
I'm sure the brass will tell you that 2-man patrol cars are too expensive.
But...I had a friend of mine who was a Reserve Deputy Sheriff out west back in the 1980's. He'd go out with a regular deputy maybe once a week on a volunteer basis, as the second man in the car.
The regular deputy would handle all citizen interaction while the reserve deputy would hang back and keep an eye on things. And, yes, he was trained and armed.
That was a decent idea. Why not bring it back?
Although you avoided responding to the main assertion “that many police are currently acting in a more belligerent and militaristic fashion...............Freepers don’t ‘hate’ police”, I appreciate your response, including what you didn’t say.
I’ll bet the Dems couldn’t wait to get this boy back on the street, registered to vote and murdering people.
I refer you to my observation that there are *some* bad apples both in our Armed Forces and police forces.
*Some*...not *many*.
Our sheriff ended reserve deputies because he didn’t want anyone but full-time officers.That was a couple decades ago,not sure what the current sheriff thinks. Insurance and lawyers have changed or eliminated a lot f things once familiar to Americans.
And for the record,I only hate BAD cops;that does include those who think themselves special,who shoot down old ladies and any person they see with a gun,and cowardly killers of dogs protective o their home or just runnng across teir own yard; and especially those willing to particpate in gun confiscations as happened in New Orleans.
The information on the bad apples in law enforcement indicates that relative to, say a decade ago, the proper description of the todays number is many, not some.
Many is not all, or even most.
Now if only all the good cops,military,and government employees would stop covering for ,or being intimidatd by, the bad ones it would be just all fine.
But he good cops very rarely denounce the bad ones.
In this instance the bad ones are the judges and lawyers who let the dead perp out on bail.And further,the responsibilty should lie with all those who agitated and saw to it the legal system is so lenient with violent criminals and murderers.
Hope the trooper makes a full recovery.
Sheesh! What does it take to get locked up for good? Glad that piece of trash is dead now.
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