A 70-year-old Colorado Springs man, who served two tours of duty in Vietnam, was sentenced Friday to 12 years in prison for throwing a Molotov cocktail into a Denver law firm’s office and firing two gunshots at firm members who pursued him.
Wearing eyeglasses, a bow tie and suspenders, John Volske cut a grandfatherly figure as he stood before Denver District Judge Martin Egelhoff.
But a prosecutor and victims of Volske’s bizarre May attack told Egelhoff that the defendant is a very dangerous man who “terrorized” the Lower Downtown civil law firm of Appel & Lucas.
Volske’s crime was not only against the firm, but an attack on the legal system as a whole, partner Peter Lucas told the court.
“As soon as we get an open season on lawyers, it is going to be a very bad thing,” Lucas said.
On May 8, Volske threw a Molotov cocktail – a flammable liquid in a Mason jar inside a paper bag – into the entryway of the firm on the 1900 block of Market Street.
Volske, who had no prior criminal record, apologized to the victims.
“I never meant to cause any harm to them or anyone,” he said.
Volske said he was just trying to cause “confusion” at the firm, which was going to foreclose on his daughter’s home the next day.
“It was very stupid,” Volske said. “All I was trying to do was help my daughter.”
But paralegal John Nunnally, who along with Lucas pursued Volske the day of the incident, recounted having a handgun pointed at him and fired.
“I truly believe it is just by the grace of God that no one, including Mr. Volske, got hurt,” Nunnally said.
Defense attorney Pit Martin told Egelhoff that Volske was sorry for what he did and he now realizes how wrong it was.
Martin asked Egelhoff to sentence Volske to six years, half the maximum term, because of his client’s age.
“A 12-year sentence is a life sentence,” Martin said.
Volske earlier pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree assault with a deadly weapon.
Egelhoff said he found Volske’s “totally inexplicable” conduct an “act of terrorism” and sentenced him to the full 12-year term.
Staff writer Kieran Nicholson can be reached at 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
