TOPEKA, Kan.—A fugitive from Colorado was charged in Kansas on Wednesday with kidnapping and other crimes for allegedly taking a newlywed couple hostage at home in a small town outside Topeka.
Jesse Dennis Dimmick, 23, of Aurora, Colo., faces two felony counts of kidnapping, and one felony count each of theft, aggravated robbery and possession of drug paraphernalia. The Shawnee County district attorney’s office also charged him one misdemeanor count of battery. Each kidnapping charge carries a possible penalty of anywhere from 4 years and 11 months to 20 years and seven months in prison.
No hearing in Shawnee County District Court has been set, and District Attorney Chad Taylor is asking Dimmick’s bond to be set at $1 million. Dakota Loomis, a spokesman for the district attorney, said Dimmick remains at Stormont-Vail Regional Medical Center, recovering from being shot in the chest during the Sept. 12 hostage incident in Dover, about 15 miles southwest of Topeka.
Dimmick is also being held on a warrant from Colorado, Loomis said. Dimmick is wanted there in connection with the slaying of a 25-year-old man found in a motel in the Denver suburb of Aurora.
According to court records, Dimmick did not yet have an attorney Wednesday.
Loomis said while Taylor’s office is working with the Arapahoe County, Colo., district attorney’s office, but they’ve not figured out which state’s criminal case will go forward first. A message left after hours with the Colorado prosecutor’s office was not returned.
“We’re happy to move forward,” Loomis said.
Authorities have said Dimmick fled Colorado in a stolen vehicle and was spotted by sheriff’s deputies in Geary County, about 50 miles west of Topeka. They said he wrecked that vehicle and fled on foot. A second suspect with him, Shayne Miller, 35, was captured in Salina and has been returned to Colorado, according to the Kansas attorney general’s office.
Authorities said Dimmick stole a black Chrylser van in the Junction City area and started a high-speed chase that ended in Dover.
He went off a road through town, ran through two front lawns and crashed the van outside the home of Jared and Lindsay Rowley. Family members said he forced his way into the house with a knife and held the couple against their will.
Loomis said the battery charge stems from Dimmick having physical contact with Jared Rowley while entering the house. He said Dimmick is charged with aggravated robbery because he had a weapon and used the Rowleys’ personal items, including a cell phone, without intending to give them back. The theft charge stems from the stolen van.
Dimmick also had a glass pipe used for smoking drugs in his possession, Loomis said.
Family members said the couple tried to make Dimmick comfortable, watching television and even spreading blankets and pillows on the floor of their bedroom so that he could rest. After more than two hours, he fell asleep, and they left the home.
Authorities have said officers then stormed the home, and Dimmick was shot in the confrontation that followed.
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The Kansas case is State v. Jesse Dennis Dimmick, No. 09-CR-02113 in Shawnee County District Court.
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