Police officer, sheriff’s office investigator identified in deadly officer involved shooting
The Pueblo Police Department has released the identities of two law enforcement authorities who shot and killed a man on the evening of November 25.
Police say Officer Michael Sincerbox with the Pueblo Police Department and Detective Michael Hecht with the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office were forced to shoot and kill Jon Jaquez, 26, after he hit two officers with a car and rammed a cruiser.
Sincerbox is a 15 year veteran of the police force. Hecht is a three-and-a-half year veteran with the sheriff’s office. Both men have been interviewed as part of the investigation into the shooting and are on administrative leave.
The shooting happened around 6:30 pm at the Loaf N’ Jug on East 4 th Street and Troy Avenue.
Police say they went to the service station in search of Jaquez. They say Jaquez was a person of interest in an assault that put Gilbert Sprague, 23, in the hospital. Sprague remains in critical condition.
Officers say they found Jaquez in the driver’s seat of a white Honda at the Loaf N’ Jug. Police say the Honda had been reported stolen.
The police department says that officers gave numerous commands for Jaques to get out of the car. They say that instead, he accelerated forward, hitting two officers. They say Jaquez then put the Honda in reverse and rammed a cruiser. That is when officers opened fire.
Police said two passengers in the car were not hurt.
Tiffany Valdespino and her children saw the shooting, they were just feet away when it happened.
“We didn’t know what to do; whether to move or go inside and take cover,” said Valdespino.
“I’ve never seen anyone get killed by the police, so that got a little scary,” said her son, Silas.
Valdespino says she saw an unmarked police car rush into the gas station parking lot, blocking in another car.
“They said, ‘Get out of the car, it’s Pueblo PD, get out!’ They started pulling people out and throwing them against cars. It was pretty scary,” said Valdespino.
She said she heard six to eight gunshots.
Pueblo’s 10th Judicial District Critical Incident Team and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation are investigating the incident.
This is the third officer involved shooting for the Pueblo Police Department so far this year and the first for the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office.
