Durango police rescued a man from the Animas River last week after he allegedly fled from officers and jumped into the water in a final attempt to avoid arrest.
An officer was on patrol about 8 p.m. May 16 in the 100 block of South Camino del Rio when he spotted a vehicle believed to be driven by Jose Aguilar-Uribe, who had an active warrant on suspicion of domestic violence.
The officer followed the vehicle, but the driver sped away, apparently after noticing the patrol car behind him, said Cmdr. Nick Stasi, with the Durango Police Department.
The driver turned into the Island Cove Park, 485 Florida Road, exited his black Cadillac Escalade and fled on foot, Stasi said.
Aguilar-Uribe, 35, of Durango, ran toward the river and hid in the bushes, he said. As night fell, police deployed a drone equipped with a thermal-imaging camera to locate him.
“When our officers started to close in on him, he made the decision to jump in the river with the intent to cross it,” Stasi said. “He didn’t even get halfway across when he started getting overwhelmed by the power of the river.”
At one point, Aguilar-Uribe attempted to sit and raise his hands, but the current caught him and pulled him underwater – a moment captured on drone footage.
Two officers entered the river to rescue Aguilar-Uribe.
“Two of our officers were chest-deep in water trying to get Jose to the shore safely,” Stasi said. “They got him on shore. All three of them were exhausted.”
Aguilar-Uribe was handcuffed and taken to Mercy Hospital for evaluation, then booked into the La Plata County Jail on the warrant. He now faces additional charges, including obstructing a peace officer.
“If our officers had not gone into the water, there is a strong likelihood that he would have drowned,” Stasi said.
shane@durangoherald.com
