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Driver in double fatality faces trial in separate DUI incident

Dick Foster, Rocky Mountain News

Published April 17, 2007 at midnight

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FAIRPLAY - Former Lafayette police officer Patrick Strawmatt was returned in handcuffs Monday to Park County, where his drunken-driving arrest in February was a prelude to a high-speed chase outside Grand Junction last month that left two college students dead.

Strawmatt, 42, was bound over for trial after a preliminary hearing on charges of eluding Park County sheriff's deputies, ramming Sheriff Fred Wegener's vehicle, then punching Wegener in the jaw as the sheriff tried to pull Strawmatt out of his vehicle on Feb. 15.

Those charges are almost anticlimactic, however, compared with the ones he faces in Mesa County, where he is held on $1 million bond.

Strawmatt, who was released on $15,000 bail in Park County a day after his February arrest, was in Mesa County on March 22 when a Colorado state trooper tried to stop him on Interstate 70 for suspected drunken driving.

Strawmatt allegedly made an obscene gesture at the trooper and sped away, reaching 120 mph before slamming his vehicle into the back of a car carrying two 19-year-old Mesa College students, Jennifer Kois, of Brighton, and Jacob Brock, of Eagle, killing them both.

Strawmatt was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, vehicular homicide, assault and driving under the influence.

In testimony Monday, Wegener recounted Strawmatt's similarly belligerent attitude when officers arrested him in Park County on suspicion of drunken driving.

A volunteer firefighter reported Strawmatt's vehicle driving erratically on U.S. 285 west of Bailey. Wegener and one of his deputies, Nate Carrigan, coming from two different directions, located the vehicle and Carrigan turned on his lights and siren to stop him.

Wegener said he joined the pursuit, pulled alongside Strawmatt traveling at 60 mph in a 50 mph zone, and ordered him to stop.

"I saw him look at me and he continued driving," the sheriff said.

Wegener pulled ahead of Strawmatt and slowed to a stop. As he was being forced to a stop, Strawmatt rammed into the back of Wegener's car, the sheriff testified.

Strawmatt refused to open his window, forcing Wegener to smash it with his baton.

As the sheriff opened the door and reached to unfasten Strawmatt's safety belt, the man punched him in the jaw, Wegener testified.

"I grabbed his leg, another officer grabbed his arm, and a passing man stopped and helped grab him," said Wegener.

Even then, it took pepper spray to finally subdue Strawmatt and handcuff him.

Although Park County Deputy District Attorney Martin Kenney argued that Strawmatt was a danger to others, Magistrate Larry Allen released him on $15,000 bail the following day.

After Monday's hearing, Judge Charles Barton bound Strawmatt over for trial on the Park County charges and set May 7 for his arraignment.

Strawmatt faces a preliminary hearing in Mesa County on June 11 for the first-degree murder charges in the double fatality near Clifton.

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