A Colorado State Patrol sergeant who fatally shot an armed Mancos man after a rollover on Thanksgiving Day in Gunnison County will not face criminal charges, according to District Attorney Dan Hotsenpiller in Montrose.
Patrick M. Langhoff, 59, was “extremely depressed” and had “talked about ending his own life” before the incident, the report from the 7th Judicial District Attorney’s Office states. He drew a handgun after refusing to perform roadside sobriety tests and pointed it at his right temple seconds before the sergeant shot him three times in the chest, according to the report.
“This case reveals another incident in which law enforcement officers are called upon to deal with individuals whose lives are in some measure of crises, who are impacted by behavioral health challenges and who are dealing with matters in part through substance abuse,” Hotsenpiller wrote.
The report was released the same day the Montezuma County Board of County Commissioners declared the county a gun sanctuary, preemptively excluding it from Colorado House Bill 1177. The proposed “red flag” bill could allow family members or law enforcement to petition the courts for a temporary extreme risk protection order to force an individual to surrender their firearms in cases of mental health crises. Fremont County recently passed a similar resolution.
According to Hotsenpiller’s report, Langhoff rolled his vehicle on a snowpacked and icy Colorado Highway 135, about 4.5 miles south of Crested Butte, on Nov. 22. Sgt. Josh Boden responded with three Crested Butte police officers.
As Langhoff was being treated in an ambulance, the report states someone brought him his personal items, including a computer bag. Langhoff told the law enforcement officers that he had consumed six Sierra Nevada beers. When asked to perform a roadside sobriety test, he became “uncooperative.”
Langhoff’s sister was on scene and reportedly encouraged her brother to perform the tests, but instead, Langhoff took a step back and pulled from the computer bag hanging over his shoulder a .40 caliber Sig Sauer handgun with a live round in the chamber and a loaded magazine.
Within 22 seconds, Boden shot Langhoff three times in the chest.
The report states Langhoff pointed the gun at his right temple, lowered the gun, cocked the gun and began to raise the gun, at which point Boden fired three shots. Boden and the officers gave at least 13 commands for Langhoff to drop the gun in those 22 seconds, according to the report.
As the officers and EMTs attempted “life-saving efforts” on Langhoff, the report the states his sister pleaded with law enforcement to let Mr. Langhoff die. According to an audio recording, his sister stated, “Let him die, he was so sad, just let him die.”
In a later interview with the sister, she said Langhoff led a successful life, was well-educated, married, had two daughters and was financially stable. But that changed when Langhoff went through a difficult divorce, lost his house, financial assets and his daughters stopped talking to him.
“These personal events caused Mr. Langhoff to become extremely depressed, and he began to drink excessively,” the report states. “Mr. Langhoff had talked about wanting to end his own life and was recently arrested for DUI.”
A month before the fatal shooting, Langhoff was arrested for DUI in Mancos on Oct. 18 and subsequently charged in Montezuma County court with driving under the influence.
According to the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office incident report from the Oct. 18 arrest, Langhoff had been weaving on U.S. Highway 160 in Mancos. During the arrest, he told a deputy that his highest level of education was a master’s degree in business.
Langhoff was subsequently charged with DUI in Montezuma County Court. He was scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 27, but his attorney reported that he was dead. The case was closed.
According to the report from Hotsenpiller, the Montrose DA’s Office reviewed an investigation from the 7th Judicial District’s Critical Incident Investigative Team, including investigator reports, an investigative summary, the coroner report, EMT records, statement forms and audio and video recordings.
Hotsenpiller concluded that Boden’s use of force “was justified under Colorado Law, and that there is no justification or basis for the filing of criminal charges in this case.”
The report states use of force by law enforcement in Colorado is judged by the same standard as any other person. Colorado law has “long recognized an individual’s right to use force in self-defense based on ‘apparent necessity.’”
Langhoff allegedly did not respond to repeated commands from armed officers to lower his weapon and was moving the gun up and down, placing the officers in the line of fire.
“These circumstances and these actions by Mr. Langhoff make it reasonable for any officer to decide that action was necessary,” Hotsenpiller wrote.
Included in the report is a summary of Boden’s training dating to 2005. With at least 16 qualifications and training sessions over his 15 years in law enforcement, Boden was “more than adequately and properly trained.”
According to a summary of Boden’s post-incident interview, he stated that Langhoff displayed strange behavior during their interaction and showed no emotion in his face. When asked for his ID, Langhoff gave Boden his entire wallet, which the sergeant reported as being “remarkably unusual.”
During the DUI investigation, Boden said he noticed several “key red flags.” He said Langhoff stopped making eye contact, was “unemotional” and “tuned out the entire rest of the world.”
When Langhoff lowered the gun from his temple and cocked the gun, Boden reported that was a “clear red flag in all of my training and experience” that when a subject starts to manipulate a gun, that rounds “are going to be fired.”
“Sergeant Boden said he had to stop the threat because it was going to be him or someone else,” Hotsenpiller wrote.
sdolan@the-journal.com
