| Goshen County escapee captured at WNCC | |
| March 17, 2011 Dawn Bowen | |
 A Torrington man who escaped last week while being booked at the Torrington Police Department was arrested early Monday morning on the campus of Western Nebraska Community College. Darrell David Goetzel, 25, was arraigned Monday in Scotts Bluff County Court on the escape charge. He remained jailed in the local detention center on Tuesday, awaiting an extradition hearing. “Once they have a hearing there he will either waive extradition and we go get him, or he fights extradition and then we have to get a governor’s warrant,” Goshen County Sheriff Donald Murphy said in a telephone conference Tuesday. “Until he goes in front of a magistrate to decide what he’s going to do, we’re pretty much at a standstill over here.” Murphy said, however, that Wyoming authorities fully intend to bring Goetzel back to Wyoming where he will face new charges of felony assault on a peace officer and felony escape. He is also expected to face the original charges against him which include drug possession, vandalism and larceny in connection with an alleged car burglary in Wyoming. Goetzel escaped from custody around 11:40 p.m. on Wednesday, March 9, when he was being booked into the Goshen County Detention Center after being arrested by Torrington police. During the booking process Goetzel allegedly assaulted a detention officer and then escaped from the detention center. The detention officer suffered serious injury and was taken by ambulance to Community Hospital in Torrington. Murphy said the officer has extensive injuries on his face and is expected to have surgery on Thursday at Regional West Medical Center in Scottsbluff. Immediately after the escape, several officers from the Goshen County Sheriff’s Office and the Torrington Police Department began searching for Goetzel, but were unable to locate him. His capture came five days later after security personnel at WNCC spotted him driving a 1999 Ford Taurus on the campus grounds and recognized him. Scottsbluff Police Captain Brian Wasson said Tuesday that the WNCC security officers spotted Goetzel on the campus around 2:15 a.m. Monday, driving across landscaped areas and acting suspiciously. “There was a gentleman up there that had driven through the grass and was knocking on windows and doors in the area,” Wasson said. “The officers arrived and both the security staff and officers felt by his physical appearance that he was likely the one wanted out of Torrington.” Wasson said although the man initially provided a different name, the police officers were able to confirm he was in fact the suspect being sought by Wyoming authorities. Goetzel was arrested at the campus and taken to the Scottsbluff County Jail where he was booked on the warrant out of Goshen County charging him with escape. Wasson said Goetzel went with the officers cooperatively and no altercation occurred at the time of his arrest in Scottsbluff. Read more by Dawn Bowen |
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