A man who last year led police on a dangerous car chase that was broadcast on live television was convicted Wednesday of 18 charges, including attempted manslaughter and first-degree assault.
Ryan Stone, 29, was convicted by a Douglas County jury for his part in a 2014 car chase during which he hit state Trooper Bellamann Hee as Hee tried to deploy a device to deflate tires on Stone’s vehicle. The morning-rush chase spanned about 90 minutes and reached speeds of 100 mph.
During his crime spree, Stone stole an SUV — carrying a 4-year-old boy buckled into a car seat — from a Longmont gas station, damaged 10 cars, hijacked two others and left the scene of multiple accidents, among other acts.
He was found guilty of attempted manslaughter, which is a lesser included charge of the initial top count of attempted first-degree murder, according to a news release by the 18th Judicial District attorney. He was found not guilty of one count of second-degree kidnapping and one count of attempted robbery.
Stone faces 64 to 100 years in prison, said assistant district attorney Mark Hurlbert.
Stone’s defense on Friday asked the court for a “judgment of acquittal” on 20 of the 26 counts, including the attempted-murder charge and a kidnapping charge, but the motion was denied.
District Court Judge Paul A. King found sufficient evidence, based in part on TV news footage, to let all charges stand.
Stone also has been charged with four counts of habitual crime sentence enhancements and one violent crime sentence enhancement, the news release said.
“The five sentence enhancements will be decided upon a future hearing,” the release said.
The next hearing is set for 8:15 a.m. Friday in the Douglas County Justice Center in Division 1.
