Retired US police officer tracks down man who shot him and escaped jail after 50 years on the hunt

A retired US police officer has revealed how he finally managed to track down a man who escaped jail after shooting him almost five decades ago. Officer Daril Cinquanta first encountered Luis Archuleta in Colorado in 1971, when the notorious criminal shot him in the stomach. Archuleta was jailed over the shooting, but managed to escape from prison three years later after feigning an illness to secure a hospital visit. “It was an escape from a Hollywood script,” Mr Cinquanta said, complete with “a hostage, a getaway car, an accomplice with guns.” When Mr Cinquanta learned of his attacker's escape, he made it his mission to track him down. Years of calling contacts for potential leads led Mr Cinquanta to San Jose, California in the 1980s, but the trail appeared to run cold. Undeterred, Mr Cinquanta continued his search for his attacker and was rewarded with a tip off this June, 47 years after Archuleta went on the run. The tip came from an anonymous caller who suggested Archuleta was now living under the alias Ramon Montoya at an address in Española, New Mexico. Mr Cinquanta's research revealed that Mr Montoya had been charged with drunk driving in 2011 and a search of the police database showed that his mug shot matched Archuleta. “I couldn’t believe it,” Mr Cinquanta told CBS Denver. “I’ve been chasing the guy all of this time, and dead end after dead end after dead end.” Mr Cinquanta, who is now retired, alerted the local police force and the FBI, who tracked down Archuleta, now 77, and arrested him on August 5.

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