Undercover officer beaten while retrieving tracking device from suspect's truck

An undercover detective with the Fort Collins Police Services was hospitalized in critical condition after he was caught trying to retrieve tracking equipment that was used in an arrest earlier in the summer.

The detective, whose identity is not being released by authorities, was attempting to remove a tracking device from a truck parked near the intersection of E. 8th Street and N. Boise Avenue in Loveland the evening of September 29. The device was used by court order to track the movements of the truck and its owner, Marvin Evans. Evans, 46, was arrested in June regarding felony stalking and protection order violations out of Fort Collins. 

While removing the device, the undercover officer was discovered by an acquaintance of Evans who was using the truck at the time. That acquaintance, 35-year-old Quentin Wallace, assaulted the undercover officer. 

Loveland police officers responded to the scene. Wallace was not arrested until Oct. 6. It was then that a multi-agency team concluded its investigation into the incident and the 8th Judicial District Attorney's Office issued a warrant. Larimer County Sheriff's Office deputies took Wallace into custody. Wallace was charged 2nd Degree Assault Causing Bodily Injury, a Class 4 felony.

"Investigators did not find evidence that Wallace knew the detective was law enforcement prior to the assault," LCSO stated in a press release announcing Wallace's arrest and charges, "which is why the suspect was not charged with assault on a police officer."

At the time of Wallace's arrest, the undercover officer was still in a hospital in critical condition, according to LCSO's press release. Kate Kimble, a spokesperson for the Fort Collins police department, told CBS4 on Monday the officer's condition had stabilized while he was still recovering from "significant" injuries. 

The officer was not working alone to remove the tracking device, according to the DA's Office. But no further information about the circumstances of the incident has been released. 

Wallace posted bond on Oct. 18 and appeared in Larimer County court on the 31st. He is scheduled to return to court in December. 

Evans remains jailed on a bond of almost half a millions dollars. A search of online court records shows he is also in the midst of divorce proceedings which were initiated by the same woman who was granted the protection order that he violated.