DOUGLAS COUNTY — A 22-year-old man will spend 10 years in prison after he fired a gun out of his car window as deputies were investigating possible thefts from cars.
Douglas County District Court Judge Jeffrey Holmes sentenced convicted felon Manuelito Dewane Vigil to 10 years in the Department of Corrections for the top count, the maximum allowed under the plea agreement.
Vigil pleaded guilty to aggravated motor vehicle theft, possession of a weapon by a previous offender with a prior burglary conviction, vehicular eluding, first-degree auto trespass, violation of bail bond conditions, second-degree burglary and felony menacing.
The court noted that Vigil was on a failed probation in a deferred judgment in a Weld County felony case and was on bond out of Arapahoe County when the crime took place.
“A repeat offender who was being supervised for a burglary conviction and already on bond for illegally possessing a firearm as a convicted felon finds a way yet again to get another firearm … and use it to shoot at our guardians. A system that fails to treat gun crimes seriously begets more gun crimes,” said District Attorney George Brauchler. “Mercifully, nobody was killed — this time. This reprobate will find it harder to shoot at the good guys from prison, but under our broken sentencing laws, he will only be in there for a handful of years.”
On January 27, 2019 deputies with the Douglas County Sheriff's Office were told about reports of a man driving a gray van trying to tresspass into vehicles in Highlands Ranch. One deputy quickly found the suspect's vehicle, which then escaped from the deputy.
A different deputy picked up the trail and reported that shots were fired from the van by the masked driver as it sped away. Authorities found shell casings at the scene.
Authorities later found out that the gray van was stolen. They later found the van in Commerced City on January 30. Vigil was arrested the next day at his Denver home.
Severn firearms were found in his home, along with a ballistic vest and a mask. Deputies also found ammunition from the car and house that matched the shell casings found at the scene. Additionally, the car contained more than 200 pieces of stolen mail.
