Montezuma County District Judge William Furse upheld bond and scheduled a preliminary hearing and pretrial conference for a man arrested after a car chase that left a police officer, woman and child with injuries.
Appearing last week in 22nd Judicial District Court, Rosco Hampson’s attorney asked that he be released from jail to maintain his job and home.
Furse declined to modify Hampson’s bond, citing the seriousness of his charges, which include vehicular eluding causing injury, reckless driving and a revoked driver’s license.
Furse then scheduled a preliminary hearing and pretrial conference for April 3 at 1:30 p.m.
The crash occurred Feb. 16. When Sgt. Vance Carver attempted to pull over a Buick Sedan with a mud-covered windshield, the vehicle reportedly sped up on Market Street, exceeding the speed limit. According to Carver’s police report, the Buick ran stop signs at Montezuma Avenue and Empire Street, leaving Carver too far behind to catch up.
At the Ash Street intersection, Carver saw the Buick’s “entire exhaust system” lying in the eastbound lane. As he moved it out of the roadway, officer Andrew Archer reported that he recorded the Buick’s license plate number as the car sped past the Cortez Police Department station.
Officer Michael Rivas then informed dispatch that he had taken up the pursuit, but collided with a vehicle at State and Empire streets. The collision with the vehicle, which carried three people, left a woman, child and Rivas with “minor injuries.”
The Buick continued east on Empire.
A few days later, Carver interviewed the registered owner of the Buick, who said the car was at Phil’s World with flat tires. She said Hampson had access to the vehicle the day of the police chase.
At the time of the chase, Hampson had two warrants for his arrest.
