A Durango man was held at gunpoint Wednesday after traumatizing another driver, nearly colliding with a sheriff’s deputy and spinning doughnuts north of town.
Law enforcement said they’re unsure what set off Kenneth Tozer III, 28.
He was being held Wednesday at the La Plata County Jail on traffic offenses among other possible charges, said Dan Bender, spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office.
Tozer was driving a 1997 red Dodge pickup north on East Animas Road (County Road 250) about 12:55 p.m. when he passed another driver in a no-passing zone in excess of 60 mph, Bender said. The speed limit on that road is 45 mph.
He completed the pass, but he almost ran head-on into a deputy traveling the opposite direction, Bender said. The deputy flipped a U-turn, but he lost sight of the pickup in the 6000 block of East Animas Road.
The deputy found skid marks at Trimble Lane (County Road 252), and saw the pickup doing doughnuts – spinning in tight circles – in an area off to the side of the road, Bender said.
The driver fled to the entrance of Dalton Ranch subdivision, where he stopped.
Tozer refused to exit the vehicle and kept putting his hands under his clothing as if he were reaching for a gun, despite the deputy telling him not to do that, Bender said. Tozer repeatedly shouted at the deputy to “shoot me,” he said.
Tozer was held at gunpoint until other deputies arrived, at which time they were able to restrain him. While in a patrol car, he maneuvered his feet through his arms so that his hands were no longer cuffed behind him, Bender said. He did this twice before deputes found a way to restrain him with his hands behind his back, Bender said.
Tozer had alcohol on his breath, but his blood-alcohol level wasn’t immediately known, Bender said. It also wasn’t known if he was under the influence of other substances, or if he was experiencing a mental episode.
The driver he passed said Tozer would tailgate within inches of the rear bumper, then back off, only to speed up again and tailgate. He did this on about three occasions before passing, Bender said.
Video from the deputy’s dashcam shows Tozer pulling into the deputy’s lane of travel and driving straight at the deputy before completing the pass, Bender said. The deputy pulled part way off the road, but he wasn’t able to pull all the way over because of narrow shoulders and an irrigation ditch on the side of the road.
“We don’t know what his motives are,” Bender said of Tozer.
shane@durangoherald.com
