ESPAÑOLA, N.M. — A man who shot a Denver Police Department officer before escaping from prison in 1974 was arrested in New Mexico on Wednesday.
According to the United States Department of Justice, former Colorado resident Luis Archuleta was convicted in 1973 of shooting DPD Officer Daril Cinquanta.
The shooting occurred in October 1971 in north Denver’s Sunnyside neighborhood. According to an arrest affidavit, Cinquanta was shot in the stomach.
Archuleta escaped from a hospital in Pueblo, while he was in prison at a Colorado Department of Corrections facility in 1974 and had been wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation ever since.
Cinquanta, now retired, had been trying to track down Archuleta since his escape, according to the affidavit.
In June, Cinquanta told investigators he got a tip from a source that Archuleta was living in New Mexico.
On Wednesday, Archuleta was arrested in Española, New Mexico by local police and Albuquerque-based FBI agents.
Archuleta, now 77, will be extradited to Colorado. He had been living in Española for about 40 years under the name Ramon Montoya, the DOJ said.
“Montoya” is just one of many names Archuleta used.
“This arrest should send a clear signal to violent offenders everywhere: The FBI will find you, no matter how long it takes or how far you run, and we will bring you to justice,” said FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Michael Schneider. “I want to thank the Española Police Department for working closely with the FBI Denver and Albuquerque Divisions on this investigation and getting this dangerous fugitive off the streets.”
