47 Years On The Run: Former Cop Helps Track Down Man Who Shot Him

A former Denver police officer is being credited with helping track down the man who shot him 50 years ago...then spent nearly 47 years on the run after escaping from prison. KUSA's Jeremy Jojola reports.

(KUSA/NBC News) — A former Denver police officer is being credited with helping track down the man who shot him 50 years ago…then spent nearly 47 years on the run after escaping from prison.

“I’m reveling in the fact that I got him,” says Daril Cinquanta, the former officer who has since retired and started his own private investigation firm.

Cinquanta was shot in October 1971. A Denver jury found Luis Archuleta guilty in connection with the shooting in March 1973.

Archuleta was serving time for that crime when he escaped in 1974 from a Colorado Department of Corrections facility. A federal arrest warrant was issued for Archuleta, also known as Larry Pusateri, in 1977 on charges stemming from his escape.

Earlier this week, the FBI announced that he was apprehended and is being returned to Colorado following his arrest in Española, New Mexico.

It’s all thanks to Cinquanta, who never stopped making phone calls and doing door knocks in hopes of tracking down the man who shot him.

“On June 24, I get a phone call from an individual and this person says, ‘I’ve thought about it, and I’m gonna tell you where the guy is who shot you,’ And of course, I was skeptical,” Cinquanta says. “Forty-six years later, and out of the clear blue I get a phone call. Well, this person gives me his address and his alias…and other facts that meant nothing at the time.”

Read more here.