A jury in the U.S. 22nd Judicial District found a Cortez resident guilty in a menacing case that resulted after a confrontation with police in May 2025.
Shane French was found guilty on six counts of menacing involving a real or simulated weapon, plus charges of obstruction of government operations, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct for displaying a weapon in public. His sentencing is scheduled for Friday, May 29 at 9 a.m.
French was arrested in May 2025 on suspicion of menacing with a deadly weapon and assault on a peace officer after a confrontation with police.
At a hearing last year, Cortez Police Department Officer Koltan Guttridge testified that he, Sgt. Brent Jarmon and Officer Kadan Sharp responded to a disturbance call made by French’s mother from her Texas Street residence. According to Guttridge’s testimony and an incident report obtained by The Journal, French left the home and confronted officers on Empire Street, yelling and armed with a knife. He dropped the knife before holding up an object that resembled a firearm.
Three of the menacing counts involved the knife and three involved the simulated firearm, District Attorney Jeremy Reed told The Journal.
Body camera footage from the three officers captured officers’ commands for French to drop the knife and their efforts to de-escalate the situation. Police later obtained a warrant and entered the home after French had gone back inside. There, he allegedly blocked their entry and struggled with them.
A search of the home turned up a pipe with suspected methamphetamine residue and a gun-shaped lighter. Additional drug paraphernalia was located during a hospital evaluation and further search.
French has a prior conviction from 2020 for threatening a parole officer with a weapon. That conviction was reversed after the Colorado Court of Appeals requested that a new trial be held after claims that French acted in self-defense against who he allegedly thought was a trespasser. In 2014, he was acquitted by a jury on assault and resisting arrest charges.
French and his family later settled a 2016 lawsuit against the city of Cortez and several police officers over claims of illegal entry into their home.
bduran@the-journal.com
