Bryan Taylor, Canyon County Prosecutor, announced that Eric Larrea, age 40, of Caldwell, was sentenced on August 24, 2022, by the Honorable Matthew J. Roker on two counts of felony Eluding and two counts of felony Witness Intimidation with a Persistent Violator enhancement.
Eric Larrea
On December 6, 2020, Nampa Police pulled Larrea over for a traffic stop. After having stopped and being identified, Larrea locked the doors and drove off in a reckless manner, running stop signs and driving at excessive speeds when he eventually jumped a curb, driving on a portion of the Greenbelt until he ultimately crashed. He then jumped out of the car and ran. As a result, Larrea was charged with one count of felony Eluding a Peace Officer, one count misdemeanor Fail to Stop for a Damage Accident, and one count misdemeanor Obstructing or Delaying an Officer.
On April 16, 2021, Larrea was charged with one count Trafficking in Heroin, one count Grand Theft, one count felony Possession of Methamphetamine, one count misdemeanor Possession of Marijuana, and one count Possession of Drug Paraphernalia when Caldwell Police Executed a search warrant of his home and found a variety of drugs, drug paraphernalia and a stolen bicycle.
On May 16, 2021, Nampa Police attempted to pull Larrea over and instead of stopping, Larrea drove recklessly at excessive speeds to avoid being pulled over. Larrea was charged with one count felony Eluding a Peace Officer with a Persistent Violator enhancement after this incident.
Just a few days later, on May 19, 2021, Caldwell Police attempted to pull Larrea over for a traffic stop, but again, instead of stopping, Larrea drove recklessly to avoid law enforcement at excessive speeds and again ran multiple stop signs. Larrea was charged with one count felony Eluding a Peace Officer.
On December 6, 2021, Larrea was arrested for multiple incidents of domestic violence against his girlfriend having occurred between 2019 – 2021. Larrea was charged with two counts felony Domestic Battery with Traumatic Injury, one count felony Attempted Strangulation, one count felony Witness Intimidation, and two counts misdemeanor Domestic Battery. While in the Canyon County Jail, Larrea repeatedly violated a No Contact Order and attempted to influence the Victim not to cooperate or appear in court and solicited other individuals to do the same. This resulted with Larrea being charged with three additional counts of felony Witness Intimidation, one count felony Solicitation to Commit Witness Intimidation, and 21 counts misdemeanor No Contact Order Violations.
Eric Larrea was found guilty after trial on one count felony Eluding a Peace Officer on June 24, 2022. On July 6, 2022, Larrea pled guilty to another count of felony Eluding a Peace Officer, along with a misdemeanor count of Obstructing or Delaying an Officer and Failing to Stop at a Damage Accident.
On July 20, 2022, Larrea pled guilty to two counts of felony Witness Intimidation with a Persistent Violator enhancement and two misdemeanor counts of No Contact Order Violations pursuant to a plea agreement and appeared for sentencing on August 24, 2022.
At the sentencing hearing, the State asked for the maximum sentence allowed under the plea agreement: that the Judge impose a sentence of four (4) years fixed, followed by sixteen (16) years indeterminate, for a total unified sentence of twenty (20) years in prison. The Defense asked for two (2) years fixed, followed by eight (8) years indeterminate, but asked the court to retain jurisdiction. Judge Roker sentenced Larrea to three (3) years fixed, followed by twelve (12) years indeterminate for a total unified sentence of fifteen (15) years in prison.
During the sentencing hearing, the Victim appeared and made a statement to the court explaining how she has been affected by the Defendant’s actions and that she still has to sleep with shoes on out of fear of what she could wake up to.
At the sentencing hearing, Judge Roker commented on the fact that Larrea puts the community at risk when he chooses to use drugs and it was clear that the Judge could not retain jurisdiction after looking at the crimes Larrea pleaded guilty to, his lengthy criminal history, and his crime spree over the past two years.