A then-51-year-old bar patron who walked out on his tab in Franktown bar last year and wound up in a shootout with a sheriff’s deputy could spend decades in prison after being found guilty by a Douglas County jury today.
Richard Wesley Anderson, 52, a Parker businessman, left the Stagecoach bar without settling up at 2 a.m. on Aug. 8, 2010. When another customer and the bar manager followed him to the parking lot, he grew angry and put a pistol to the manager’s head, prosecutors said.
After a brief fight, Anderson drove off, they said.
Douglas County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Garcia caught up to Anderson about 3 1/2 miles north on Parker Road.
Driving drunk, Anderson wheeled onto Bayou Gulch Road, pulled over and got out of his vehicle firing 13 shots at Garcia’s cruiser.
The deputy was wounded by one shot to his right tricep, but returned fire and wounded Anderson twice. Anderson was initially listed in critical condition after the shooting.
Garcia recovered and returned to duty a few months later, the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office said today.
After a six-day trial in Castle Rock, a jury deliberated for two days before finding Anderson guilty of attempted murder, first-degree assault, felony menacing, driving under the influence and reckless endangerment.
He is scheduled for sentencing before Judge Paul King on March 16.
The Douglas County District Attorney’s office said sentencing guidelines call for 16 to 48 years in state prison for attempted murder, 10 to 32 years in state prison for first-degree assault, two to six years in state prison for felony menacing, a year in county jail for DUI and six months in jail for the reckless endangerment.
The convictions do not allow for probation-only.
Court records show Anderson has previous arrests in Douglas County on charges that include assault, domestic violence, harassment and prohibited use of a weapon since 2005.
Public records state that since 1999 Anderson has operated KMA Ventures LLC, which lists his address at his residence on Plover Circle in Parker. Records do not indicate what the business does. KMA are his wife’s initials.
Anderson’s LinkedIn page states he is a former senior sales engineer for NEC Unified Solutions, a technical analyst and project manager for JD Edwards & Co. and and telecommunications operations manager for the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. He also is a former avionics technician for the U.S. Air Force.
