Man sentenced after he kidnapped a woman who stopped to help him when his car crashed

A man in Colorado has been sentenced after kidnapping a woman and carjacking her car then driving her around for four hours. 

.....

The woman had approached the man to help him after he became involved in a crash. 

According to a press release issued by the Pueblo County District Attorney’s Office, 29-year-old Shane McSwane pleaded guilty to kidnapping and attempted aggravated robbery on June 12. 

Immediately, the judge sentenced him to two 13-year sentences set to be served consecutively to each other. 

As per the DA’s office, McSwane will be required to serve 85 percent of his sentence. This means that, once he serves 22.1 years behind bars, he will be eligible for parole. 

His sentencing is related to an incident that occurred back on May 25, 2025. The victim, Grace Dotson, was in Aurora when she witnessed a car crash. 

Dotson, having seen the car crash happening right in front of her eyes, stopped her car to call 911. 

However, McSwane, who was involved in the crash, forced his way into the vehicle and kidnapped her. 

For the next four hours, McSwane drove the vehicle erratically and “in multiple directions” on I-25. 

The woman, terrified inside her own vehicle, was allowed, occasionally, to answer phone calls from her family, who were equally terrified. 

As per CBS News Colorado, McSwane stopped at a gas station in Colorado City. Inside, he threatened to shoot a clerk while asking for a lighter. 

According to a press release issued by the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to the gas station. They soon found out that the vehicle involved matched the one reported as carjacked.

Shortly after, the vehicle was spotted on Interstate 25. A deputy attempted to conduct a traffic stop, but McSwane turned southbound in an attempt to elude him. 

A high-speed pursuit followed, with the 29-year-old entering Huerfano County. Huerfano County deputies then deployed spike strips, which popped Dotson’s vehicle, still driven by McSwane. 

McSwane still managed to drive the vehicle for a few extra miles. Pueblo County deputies, however, performed a PIT maneuver while Huerfano County deputies boxed him in. He was placed under arrest.
Both Dotson and the gas station clerk were unharmed. Still, the vehicle’s owner alleged that McSwane had touched her inappropriately during the 4-hour-long kidnapping. 

He was first charged with unlawful s£xual contact, which, alongside other charges, seemed to have been dropped as part of his plea agreement. 

“We are profoundly grateful that she is alive,” the Pueblo County DA’s office said. 

“We extend our heartfelt appreciation to our law enforcement partners for their unwavering dedication and heroic efforts to rescue Ms. Dotson.”