A Durango man admitted Thursday to threatening another man with a deadly weapon before being stabbed in the leg with a knife.
Ian Taylor, 27, threatened Brian Picard with a makeshift cane in the early hours of Jan. 14 in a room at the Iron Horse Inn, 5800 Main Ave. Picard stabbed Taylor after being hit with “a long slender piece of wood similar to a shovel handle with black tape wrapped around the first 12 inches” and continued to punch him on the ground, according to arresting documents.
Taylor admitted to threatening Picard with a deadly weapon, a Class 5 felony. He was also charged with second-degree assault, a Class 4 felony, and another count of felony menacing, but those charges were dropped as part of the plea agreement.
District Court Judge Suzanne Carlson accepted the plea agreement and sentenced Taylor to one year in the La Plata County Jail, followed by two years’ mandatory parole. Taylor was facing up to three years in prison under terms of the plea agreement.
Taylor’s felony menacing punishment will run concurrent – or at the same time – to a six-year sentence he’s serving on unrelated sex charges from 2016. He pleaded guilty at the time to having sex with a 14-year-old, even though he was 23 years old.. The agreement required Taylor serve five years’ probation and 90 days in the La Plata County Jail.
Carlson revoked his guilty plea upon violation of his probation and sentenced Taylor to prison in April. The re-sentence also comes with $7,786.50 in assessed court costs and fees and a sexually violent predator sex-offender status.
Taylor is one of three co-defendants who faced charges related to the January incident at the Iron Horse Inn. All have since pleaded guilty.
Brandy Carl pleaded guilty in May to felony menacing for shooting a gun in Picard’s direction in January after he stabbed Taylor. Prosecutors charged Carl with five crimes, including attempted second-degree murder. She pleaded guilty to one charge of felony menacing; all other charges were dismissed.
A judge sentenced Carl to 90 days in jail, but she received credit for time served in pre-sentence confinement – meaning she didn’t have to report to La Plata County Jail after her sentencing hearing because she’d already spent 90 days in jail before her sentencing date. She’s serving three years’ probation.
Christopher Lewis, who police say helped Taylor assault Picard, pleaded guilty to assault April 5 and faces probation or up to two years in jail. Lewis’ sentencing hearing was scheduled for this week but has been moved to July 23.
Taylor and Lewis were accused of assaulting Picard in an apartment at the Iron Horse Inn. Picard went to the apartment to obtain marijuana, which Carl said would be there if he wanted it, according to police. When Picard arrived, Taylor threatened him, hit him with Picard’s makeshift cane and punched him as he lay on the ground in the fetal position, police said. Lewis joined Taylor in hitting Picard, according to police.
Picard stabbed Taylor in the leg before escaping the room with an acquaintance, police said. As Picard was running out the door, Carl fired a bullet at Picard through a window, shattering glass in front of his face, police said.
bhauff@durangoherald.com
