A settlement has been reached in a civil complaint against the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office stemming from an incident in 2013.
According to the complaint, on June 15th of that year, Jami Larson was driving on Highway 160 south of Cortez with her husband, Jonathan Boyd, when they were pulled over by Sergeant Adam Alcon. At issue was their lack of license plates. The couple, who had a handgun in plain sight in the back seat and told Alcon about it, said they were on their way to get the plates for the newly purchased vehicle. According to the complaint, the situation soured when the husband became agitated. Larson said he had PTSD and asked to move the conversation outside the vehicle. The complaint alleges Alcon threatened them with both a stun gun and his service weapon and wound up roughly wrestling Larson to the ground, leaving her with bruises and a broken finger. The sheriff’s office denied any use of unnecessary force and said Larson had failed to comply with Alcon’s commands. The couple was arrested, but all charges were later dismissed. The case was set for jury trial Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Durango but was settled at the last minute. Plaintiffs’ attorney Douglas Reynolds said he could not comment at this time. Sheriff Steve Nowlin, who was not in office when the incident occurred, could not be reached for comment.
