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CRAIG, Colorado — James Brent Damon and Georgie Louise Hand were wanted in at least four states when authorities in Colorado say they took two officers hostage Monday in Moffat County, sparking a police shooting that left Damon dead and Hand in jail.
Damon and Hand were being sought by authorities in Wasatch County, Utah; Chaffee County, Colorado; Jackson County, Mississippi; and Albany County, Wyoming, according to authorities and court records in those jurisdictions.
On Monday, Moffat County sheriff's deputy Bhrent Shock and Colorado wildlife officer Nathan Martinez stopped to investigate a "suspicious vehicle" parked in the sagebrush on a hillside above U.S. 40, according to a statement from the 14th Judicial District's critical incident team.
As the officers approached the vehicle, Damon and Hand disarmed them and "briefly took them hostage," according to investigators, who declined to provide details about how the couple was able to overpower the two officers.
"A struggle ensued, during which the male suspect was shot fatally," according to the critical incident team's statement.
Damon, 46, died at the scene. Hand, who is also identified in some court records as Georgie Damon, was taken to a Colorado hospital for a medical issue that was not related to the shooting, according to sources familiar with the incident.
Shock and Martinez escaped injury, authorities said. Both men are on paid administrative leave, which is standard practice after an officer-involved shooting.
Hand, 43, was booked into the Moffat County Jail on Tuesday for investigation of attempted murder, aggravated robbery, disarming a peace officer and felony menacing. She was due in court late Wednesday afternoon for a bond hearing.
At the time of Monday's incident, at least three jurisdictions had active arrest warrants for Damon and Hand.
Officer safety bulletins were also sent out by the Chaffee County Sheriff's Office to all law enforcement agencies statewide and to surrounding states as well, based on the suspects' criminal histories and information received through the investigation.
–Chaffee County Sheriff John Spezze
The couple is charged in Utah's 4th District Court with five counts each of unauthorized use of a financial transaction card, a third-degree felony; one count each of burglary; a third-degree felony; and six counts each of theft, a class B misdemeanor.
Damon and Hand used business checks and a credit card taken from a Wasatch County restaurant where they worked to steal more than $6,100, according to charging documents filed in late February. The detective who investigated the case wrote in a sworn affidavit that the couple has an "extensive history" of similar offenses and has "active warrants in different states for the same behavior."
A judge issued separate $30,000 arrest warrants for Damon and Hand on Feb. 24.
Investigators in Chaffee County, Colorado, were also looking for the couple in connection with a string of vehicle burglaries in late January near the Old Monarch Pass area on U.S. 50.
Chaffee County Sheriff John Spezze said detectives set up surveillance that helped them identify Damon and Hand as suspects in the burglaries, and obtained warrants for their arrest on Feb. 11. Property taken during the break-ins was being pawned in Utah, Colorado and Wyoming, the sheriff said.
Chaffee County detectives also learned that Damon and Hand were wanted by authorities in Mississippi in connection with a 2012 burglary case, and that they were suspected of stealing a firearm during a recent vehicle burglary in Wyoming.
"Officer safety bulletins were also sent out by the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office to all law enforcement agencies statewide and to surrounding states as well, based on the suspects' criminal histories and information received through the investigation," Spezze said.
Undersheriff Rob DeBree with the Albany County Sheriff's Office in Laramie, Wyoming, confirmed that a firearm was stolen from a retired officer's vehicle within the past month. DeBree did not know Wednesday if the gun had been recovered.
"Our case is still open," the undersheriff said, adding that Albany and Moffat county detectives were sharing information Wednesday in an effort to advance their respective investigations.
Cheri Ward, spokeswoman for the Jackson County Sheriff's Office in Pascagoula, Mississippi, said investigators there have been looking for Damon and Hand for their failure to appear in a residential burglary case that was filed in December 2012. Damon was also being sought by the Mississippi Department of Corrections for absconding from supervision, according to corrections spokeswoman Jasmine Cole.
Damon had served prison time in Mississippi for credit card fraud, vehicle burglary, drug possession, receiving stolen property and forgery, Cole said. He also served prison time in Utah for a 2006 conviction on charges of attempted theft by receiving stolen property, failure to stop at an officer's command and reckless driving, court records show.
Hand was also convicted in Utah's 5th District Court in 2006 on misdemeanor charges of theft by receiving stolen property and attempted failure to stop at an officer's command. She was ordered to serve 30 days in jail, spend 18 months on probation, write an apology to the victim and pay a $1,550 fine, court records show.
