John Jefferson
Inset: Manuel Handboy (Adams County Sheriff’s Office). Background: Manuel Handboy’s Acura sedan after he hit his ex-girlfriend, her mother and sister (KUSA/YouTube).
A Colorado man who got dumped by his girlfriend responded to the breakup by mowing the woman down with his sedan at a motel, along with her sister and mother, as they unloaded items from their car following a shopping trip, according to prosecutors.
Manuel Handboy, 39, was convicted this month of attempted first-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, attempted manslaughter, first-degree assault, second-degree assault, and third-degree assault for the 2022 attack. An Adams County jury found him guilty on Jan. 13 after an eight-day trial, according to District Attorney Brian Mason of Colorado’s 17th Judicial District, which serves Adams and Broomfield Counties.
“This was an outrageous, outrageous act of violence,” Mason tells Law&Crime. “The defendant literally plowed his vehicle into these innocent victims out of nowhere. They had no idea it was coming.”
Handboy’s ex-girlfriend, who has not been publicly named, had just ended a three-year relationship with him a few days before his car attack, with him taking her phone and threatening to assault her, according to the DA’s office. The victim was staying with her mother at a motel in the Denver metro area after the “recent breakup” and was returning from a shopping trip with her mom and sister when Handboy set upon them.
“As they unloaded items from their vehicle, they noticed Handboy nearby in his black Acura sedan,” the DA’s office said in a press release. “Without warning, Handboy accelerated toward the group, intentionally striking the victim, her mother, and her sister with his vehicle. The force of the impact sent both the victim and her mother into the air, while the victim’s sister, who was sitting in her car, was also struck.”
The ex-girlfriend and her sister were both injured, and their mother suffered a traumatic brain injury and multiple fractures.
According to Mason, surveillance video was captured that showed Handboy plowing into the trio, but it was too graphic to share publicly. He tells Law&Crime that it played a major role in convicting Handboy.
“We didn’t put that video out publicly because it is too graphic and too upsetting to watch,” Mason says. “I’m confident that the video was very powerful and persuasive to the jury. I’m confident that it was persuasive to them, having seen the video myself. The defendant literally plowed into these victims, sending one physically into the air.”
Mason says he found the “depravity” of Handboy’s actions “stunning,” even after being a prosecutor for over 18 years.
“That’s why we prosecuted it so vigorously,” he explains. “I’ve had some heartbreaking verdicts that I will never understand. But by and large, I think juries take these cases very seriously and this jury certainly took this case seriously and they saw the evidence for what it was and they returned a just — and, in my view, correct — verdict.”
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Asked if the victims had time to get out of the way, Mason said: “None.”
“It never ceases to amaze me how human beings can do such awful things to other human beings,” he tells Law&Crime. “Of course, not everybody does awful things to others, and the human condition is one of joy. But sometimes, it’s pain, and when that pain is caused by a solo human being, it’s just something I’ll never fully comprehend. And why someone like Mr. Handboy would commit such a horrible, horrible act of violence on other human beings, I will just never understand. But that is why we are here at the DA’s office. To the extent that it’s possible to fight for victims who have suffered. And that’s what we did in this case.”
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