Stefen Chihocky pleaded guilty Tuesday in 22nd Judicial District Court to assaulting a Montezuma County Sheriff’s deputy in November, then withdrew his plea after a judge declined to lower his bond.
For pleading guilty to assaulting an officer, the District Attorney’s Office offered Chihocky, 27, a deal to dismiss two other cases: a Class 4 felony charge for allegedly providing false identifying information to an officer in October and two Class 5 felony charges for allegedly trespassing a vehicle with the intent to commit crime and possession of burglary tools, also in October.
After withdrawing his guilty plea, Chihocky’s three cases were set for trial in March.
The hearing Tuesday started normally.
Judge Todd Plewe read Chihocky a list of rights he would give up by pleading guilty, including the right to a jury trial. Defense attorney Kenneth Pace told Plewe that the plea deal included an agreement to reduce two $5,000 cash or surety bonds to personal recognizance bonds, which would allow Chihocky to leave jail without paying bond.
Plewe paused, then asked where the deal that was written.
“Mr. Pace, it seems like you are trying to sneak that one in there on me because I don’t think I would have agreed to it,” Plewe said.
District Attorney Will Furse assured Plewe that the agreement had been reached during a hearing and should have been included in the case paperwork.
Plewe asked how that would be appropriate given that Chihocky “seems to be racking up cases.” Plewe noted that in one case Chihocky allegedly fought with law enforcement and in another allegedly provided a false name to law enforcement.
“To me, it’s a community safety issue,” Plewe said. “If he’s just admitted in open court that he fought with law enforcement when they tried to arrest him ... I’m not willing to just cut him loose.”
The false-information charge stems from an Oct. 28 traffic stop. A Cortez police officer stopped a vehicle on the 1200 block of Jackson Street for a defective brake light.
According to an deputy’s report, a man in the back seat identified himself as Jesse Wall, but when the officer returned to the Police Department and looked up a photo of Jesse Wall, he found it did not look like the man in the car.
Later, the officer went to the driver’s residence and asked who was in the back seat. The man told the officer his name was Stefen. Stefen’s Facebook page indicated his name was Stefen Chihocky, not Jesse Wall, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
On Nov. 6, two deputies attempted to serve Chihocky the warrant at a residence on the 31000 block of Colorado Highway 184. They approached the front and back doors.
A deputy tried to take Chihocky into custody at the front door, but Chihocky allegedly punched him in the ribs, broke free of his grip and ran into the canyon behind the home.
A Cortez Police Department K9 and Colorado State Patrol officer helped find Chihocky, and he was taken into custody. During a search, a 0.3 gram bag of cocaine was found in his wallet, the report said.
Back in court, Plewe said he would not reduce Chihocky’s bond. As Pace and Chihocky discussed their options, a man in the gallery used hand signals to tell Chihocky how much he could to pay for Chihocky’s bond. After a deputy tried to disrupt the communication by standing between the two, Pace and the man retreated to a back office. When they returned to the gallery, the man said loudly, “Tell him I’ll send him all the money I can.” Plewe, while hearing another case, told the man he couldn’t be that loud in court.
Chihocky and Pace again appeared before Plewe, and Pace asked that the two $5,000 bonds be reduced to $2,000. Plewe refused to negotiate, and Pace withdrew Chihocky’s guilty plea in the three cases.
The three cases were set for trial the week of March 11.
sdolan@the-journal.com