A Dolores resident and convicted felon with seven pending cases in Montezuma County Combined Courts was arrested twice in two weeks in two cities.
John I. Finocchiaro, 35, was arrested Sunday, Feb. 3, in Dolores for possession of a Hi-Point 9 mm rifle. He posted a $2,500 bond and was released from Montezuma County Detention Center on Feb. 5
On Feb. 10, he was arrested after a two-hour standoff with Durango Police at a motel.
A Durango Police Facebook post states Cortez Police provided the agency with information on Finocchiaro’s whereabouts. He was wanted on a failure to appear warrant and considered armed and dangerous.
An officer in Durango negotiated with Finocchiaro by phone for almost two hours as he barricaded himself in a motel room. He surrendered, according to the Facebook post.
In between the arrests, Finocchiaro was scheduled to appear in 22nd Judicial District Court on Feb. 7, for a sentencing hearing on a January 2018 felony menacing case, but he didn’t show up.
Public defender Kenneth Pace told the court Finocchiaro was being treated for suicidal ideation at the Crossroads at Grandview facility at Mercy Regional Medical Center.
Finocchiaro faces a slew of charges in his seven pending cases, including several felony menacing charges, several felony bail bond violations and possession of a controlled substance.
According to The Journal archives, Finocchiaro has been convicted of felonies dating to 2002, when he was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon. In 2012, he was convicted of felony menacing for use of force with a deadly weapon.
In 2013, he provoked the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office to lock down Dolores High School. Law enforcement saw Finocchiaro walking near the school after they had tried for several days to locate him on a Colorado Department of Corrections no-bond warrant for parole violation.
In 2014, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to a firearms charge.
According to the incident report from the Feb. 3 arrest in Dolores, Finocchiaro became agitated as officers placed him in a patrol vehicle and slammed his head against the cage.
While in the patrol vehicle, the incident report states, Finocchiaro claimed he was having a heart attack. Medics were called, but a deputy transported him to the hospital because he continued to slam his head.
He was medically cleared at Southwest Memorial Hospital and then resisted deputies again. A deputy struck Finocchiaro with his knee to get him in a patrol vehicle.
They recovered a Hi-Point 9 mm rifle and nine rounds of 9 mm ammunition wrapped in a sweatshirt. Possession of a firearm by a previous offender if a Class 4 felony.
Finocchiaro also had an encounter with deputies the day before that firearm arrest. He was cited for disorderly conduct after arguing with a woman at the Rio Grande Southern Hotel in Dolores. An MCSO report states deputies had been called to the hotel twice in recent days for the same complaint.
On Feb. 20, Finocchiaro is scheduled to appear in Montezuma County court on four cases. The next day, he is scheduled in 22nd Judicial District Court on three other cases.
sdolan@the-journal.com
