Denver Ex-Cop Tracks Down Man Who Shot Him After 46 Years On The Run

DENVER (CBS4) - A man who served 20 years in the Denver police force has finally tracked down the man who shot him in the line of duty nearly 50 years ago. He shared his incredible story of persistence with CBS4.

One Sunday morning in 1971, Daril Cinquanta was working as a rookie cop, when he noticed a suspicious car on Mariposa Way. As he tried to confront the man in the car, the man pulled out a gun.

"So, I hit him in the temple, I knocked his glasses and hat off, and reached across his body for his gun, but I couldn't restrain him, so he shot me," Cinquanta recalled.

Cinquanta had to crawl back to his car for help, and the man got away. Cinquanta spent weeks in the hospital.

Turns out, the man was Luis Archuleta, also known as Lawrence Pusateri, who had just escaped from prison in California.

"The reason he was in Denver, he was an escapee from Soledad prison in California, and he had come here to hide," Cinquanta said.

Archuleta was later arrested, sentenced for the shooting, and taken to prison in Colorado, but escaped three years later after Cinquanta said he faked an illness and needed to get a procedure at a state hospital.

"It was an escape from a Hollywood script," Cinquanta said. "Took a hostage, a getaway car, an accomplice with guns."

Cinquanta has been chasing him ever since, for 46 years.

"I can't even tell you how many people I talked to," Cinquanta said. "I visited the homes of criminals, people who were involved in this case."

On June 24, Cinquanta says a source called him to tell him Archuleta was hiding in New Mexico.

"It sounded too good to be true, so I went to work and I verified and corroborated all of his information," Cinquanta explained.

Archuleta looked much older, as he is now 77 years old, and he goes by a new name - Ramon Montoya - but Cinquanta was able to verify it was the shooter he's been looking for.

Once he knew it was Archuleta, he contacted local police and the FBI, who sent in SWAT to capture him. Cinquanta said it was a total relief to learn his shooter had finally been captured.

"I couldn't believe it," Cinquanta said. "I've been chasing the guy all of this time, and dead end after dead end after dead end."

Archuleta will soon be extradited back to Denver, and Cinquanta, who now works as a private investigator, says he's proud to have bragging rights with his friends at Denver Police.