A knife-wielding man who allegedly attempted to attack a Cortez police officer in September was released the next day, despite accusations of resisting arrest and taunting him once he was arrested.
On Sept. 29 about 7:30 p.m., Patrol Sgt. Angelo Martinez was assisting crews from Southwest Memorial Hospital and the Cortez Fire Protection District with an injured individual in Veterans Park when Ramondo Hollie, who had been warned about trespassing after a stabbing incident in July, approached.
Martinez asked Hollie to leave the area, as he had been warned that he was trespassing, but Hollie didn’t comply. After Martinez tried repeatedly to handcuff Hollie, Hollie grabbed a long, fixed-blade knife that he had placed on the ground and brandished it toward Martinez.
Martinez attempted to tase Hollie, but the probes had a weak connection. While Martinez tried to tase Hollie a third time, he “began charging at me, still holding the knife in his left hand with the blade pointed toward me,” Martinez said.
Martinez ran to create distance between him and Hollie, but Hollie “continued in my direction yelling at me and telling me to shoot him.”
Martinez pulled his firearm, but Hollie pursued Martinez before going west across North Park Street. Officers Vance Carver and Kurtiss Baumgartner responded and helped arrest Hollie near 101 N. Fillmore St.
Hollie was wanted on a felony warrant for failure to comply on charges of second- and third-degree assault and had an active protection order issued outside of Montezuma County regarding three victims.
According to the protection order, Hollie is “not to possess any weapons or possess or consume alcoholic beverages.”
He was out on felony bond for the assault in July.
“At the hospital, Mr. Hollie continuously attempted to taunt me,” Martinez said. “He said he was sorry several times, but then would talk about how he was going to be out of jail within an hour.”
Hollie was found in possession of three people’s identification cards and an EBT card that belonged to Twyla House, Paulina Ketchum and Clarence Whiteman.
At the Montezuma County Detention Center, Hollie was booked on the warrant and was issued a felony hold slip for the charges of first-degree assault of a peace officer, menacing, identity theft, criminal possession of a financial transaction device, protection order violation, resisting arrest, obstructing a peace officer and trespass.
Hollie was released from jail the next day on Saturday, Sept. 30. His preliminary hearing is Oct. 27 at 10 a.m. in Montezuma County Combined Courts.
