A man who fired several shots at Douglas County sheriff’s deputies during a high-speed chase in a stolen vehicle has been sentenced to 48 years in prison, the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office said.
Peirce Langewisch, 22, received the maximum sentence after pleading guilty to two counts of attempted first-degree murder of a peace officer and one count of possession of a weapon by a previous offender. Other charges were dismissed in the plea agreement.
“You don’t get to shoot at law enforcement officers and get a slap on the wrist,” District Attorney John Kellner said. “He was committing crimes, and when the deputies moved to intercept the car he was in, he escalated the situation and put passersby as well as deputies in danger.”
The incident happened about 3 a.m. on Nov. 27, 2018, when the deputies saw a vehicle run a red light on South Broadway. The deputies suspected the car might have been stolen because several rental vehicles had recently been stolen in the area.
When the deputies tried to pull over the car, it began weaving and accelerated to speeds of between 100 and 120 mph on C-470, according to court documents.
After other deputies joined the chase, the rear-seat passenger, later identified as Langewisch, fired a gun at deputies out of the back window, the documents said.
The suspects crashed on Dry Creek Road near Interstate 25. When deputies tried to take the occupants into custody, they did not listen to commands to show their hands and attempted to get out of the car, at which point multiple deputies fired their guns.
The driver, 19-year-old Nicholas Ryan, was killed. The front-seat passenger, 21-year-old Jason Sutton, was injured but survived. Langewisch was not injured.
The district attorney’s office determined the deputies’ use of lethal force was justified in April 2019.
“The job of a law enforcement officer has become increasingly more dangerous, especially with individuals like this who blatantly, for no apparent reason, just shoot at the police,” Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said. “He needs to understand the ramifications of his actions.”
The investigation revealed that the car was stolen, and the three men were stealing from mailboxes and cars right before the deputy spotted them.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Gary Dawson prosecuted the cases with Deputy District Attorney Joel Zink.
During the sentencing hearing on July 9, Zink said Langewisch has an extensive previous criminal history and has been involved in numerous disciplinary incidents since he had been in the Douglas County jail.
“This defendant has made his intentions clear: As soon as he is released, he plans to go out and do the exact same kinds of things that put him behind bars,” Zink said. “There is no remorse, contrition or any interest in rehabilitation on his part. The maximum sentence allowed is appropriate.”
Sutton, the other passenger, pleaded guilty in 2019 to vehicular eluding and first-degree trespassing of a vehicle, with other charges dismissed as part of the plea agreement. He was sentenced to three years in prison.
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