Woman who took Fort Collins officer's gun, car in jail standoff sentenced to prison

A woman convicted of threatening her arresting officer with his own gun and barricading herself in the vehicle bay at the Larimer County Jail last year has been sentenced to prison.

Patricia Rodriguez, now 39, was sentenced to a total of 19 years in prison July 29 after a jury found her guilty of four felonies: second-degree kidnapping, a Class 5 felony; criminal mischief, a Class 5 felony; possession of a weapon by a previous offender, a Class 5 felony; and motor vehicle theft, a Class 6 felony. Judge Juan Villaseñor agreed with the prosecution's request to have the sentences for each count run consecutively.

Rodriguez was also convicted of three misdemeanor charges and sentenced to jail, and those sentences were completed by applying credit given for time served.

On Feb. 19, 2023, after arresting Rodriguez on suspicion of shoplifting and bringing her to the Larimer County Jail, the arresting Fort Collins Police Services officer secured his duty weapon per the jail's policy. But when the officer went to remove Rodriguez from his car, “he found that she had slipped out of her handcuffs, manipulated the storage safety measures and accessed his firearm,” according to a news release at the time of her arrest.

She then tried to take the officer hostage at gunpoint before barricading herself in the police vehicle and refusing to come out for 2½ hours, authorities previously said.

At the sentencing hearing at the end of July, the arresting officer, Al Wilson, told the court that this has had a "long-lasting" impact on him and others in law enforcement in general.

"None of us signed up for something like this," Wilson said.

Deputy District Attorney Michael Mangione described Rodriguez's actions as "egregious," "dangerous" and a "brilliant tactical maneuver" to try and escape from custody.

Rodriguez abused the kindness Wilson showed her, Mangione said, including when Wilson loosened her handcuffs after she said they were too tight.

But defense attorney Daniel Jasinski argued that her actions were caused by untreated mental illness, not a desire to escape.

The idea that she was willing to do anything to escape is "just simply not true," Jasinski said. "One very significant thing that she did not do was fire that loaded gun that was in her possession."

Jasinski said Rodriguez "suffered unbelievable trauma" growing up, which has impacted her fight, flight or freeze reactions, and in this case she made the wrong choice.

"I made some horrible decisions and it's something I have to deal with," Rodriguez said. "I'm not trying to make excuses, and I know I have some work ahead of me."

Rodriguez said she knows people don't understand her state of mind during this incident, but "my intentions weren't what everyone makes them seem."

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Woman who took Fort Collins officer's gun, car in jail standoff sentenced to prison