HARFORD COUNTY, Md. (WBFF) — A New York man pleaded guilty Tuesday in connection to the attempted murder of a lieutenant with the Harford County Sheriff’s Office.
Juan Quiroz-Manzueta, 22, pleaded guilty to one count of attempted first-degree murder, one count of second-degree burglary, one count of attempt by driver to elude police in an official police vehicle and one count of failing to stop a vehicle after an attended property damage accident, the Office of the State’s Attorney for Harford County announced on May 19.
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On the morning of August 26, 2025, Lieutenant Robert Burgess saw a white Penske box truck driving “erratically” on Route 136 in Harford County, according to the facts presented in support of the defendant’s plea.
Burgess activated his emergency equipment to initiate a traffic stop, but the driver failed to stop and led law enforcement on a vehicle pursuit that lasted 36 minutes and spanned across several county roads.
During the chase, the driver, identified as Juan Quiroz-Manzueta, drove recklessly at unsafe speeds, crossed over medians and drove the wrong way on multiple occasions, including several times on Interstate 95, authorities said.
The driver struck at least six cars as he weaved in and out traffic, trying to evade law enforcement. He also failed to stop after any of those crashes.
During that time, other deputies led the chase and Burgess, with the help of a Maryland State Police trooper, later positioned themselves on I-95 to deploy stop sticks to try to stop the suspect’s vehicle, according to authorities. As Quiroz-Manzueta approached, he avoided the stop sticks, hitting civilian vehicles in the process.
As Burgess sought cover, the defendant “deliberately” struck Burgess’ vehicle, swerved directly at him and hit him. Burges was sent 30 feet through the air and another 30-pplus feet down the asphalt. Officials said it nearly took Burgess’ life.
The defendant still didn’t stop and continued to flee.
Eventually, Sgt. Henize ended the chase and safely conducted a Precision Immobilization Technique, which the state’s attorney’s office says is “a law enforcement tactic used to safely and forcefully stop a fleeing vehicle, guiding it off the roadway and into the woods.”
Quiroz-Manzueta got out of the vehicle, ran through the woods and further evaded arrest at that time, officials said.
The investigation later found that the defendant burglarized the Applebee’s in Aberdeen and stole cooking oil. He then tried to steal more cooking oil from the Royal Farms located on Route 22.
Both incidents happened just prior to Burgess’ attempted traffic stop on the defendant’s vehicle, according to authorities.
Law enforcement determined the defendant was transporting cooking oil in the truck and the hose he used to siphon the oil to steal it.
Quiroz-Manzueta was then identified, located and arrested on August 27, 2025 in New Rochelle, New York.
The defendant pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison, all suspended but 40 years.
The state’s attorney’s office noted that the defendant’s sentence is a “significant upward deviation from the recommended Maryland Sentencing guidelines of only 15 to 25 years.”
Following the hearing, State’s Attorney Alison Healey held a press conference where she issued the following statement:
The sentencing guidelines in this case were only 15 – 25 years, which were completely insufficient for both the crimes the Defendant committed that day as well as the amount of peril in which the Defendant placed all of our citizens on the roadway that day. We are proud that we were able to obtain a sentence that is 15 years above the top of the sentencing guidelines and more than double the bottom of the range for the guidelines.”
I want to significantly commend Detective Phillip Golden and the entire Harford County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division, as well as Detective Lightner and the Aberdeen Police Department Criminal Investigation Division, for their efforts in investigating this case. In addition, Harford County law enforcement and supervisors from all agencies countywide demonstrated sheer excellence in the team effort to bring this dangerous pursuit to a close. I cannot say enough how much I appreciate the sacrifices that our law enforcements make each and every day to ensure the safety of this county. They put their lives on the line for each and every one of us.”
Most importantly, I am incredibly grateful to report that Lieutenant Burgess was able to be here with us today in Court to address the Court in a victim impact statement. He sustained significant injuries as a result of the Defendant’s actions – a severe concussion and Traumatic Brain Injury, a collapsed lung with 12 displaced ribs and one broken rib requiring nine metal plates, a dislocated collarbone, a broken left forearm requiring a metal plate, four fractured vertebrae in his back, road rash covering his body, two large lacerations on his head, and additional internal bleeding. Despite those injuries, he thankfully survived this horrific incident. He will, however, be likely to deal with the lasting effects of his injuries for the rest of his life. His bravery and service to Harford County are to be honored.”
As State’s Attorney, I remain committed to my sole focus and priority, which is the public safety of Harford County and ensuring that dangerous offenders like Juan Quiroz-Manzueta face significant consequences for the threat they pose to our community. This is what the citizens of Harford County elected me to do, and we have repeatedly shown that we will stop at nothing to remove violent offenders from our streets. Today, we once again did just that. This sentence is a swift and certain message to those who contemplate committing crimes in Harford County. No sentence obtained in this case would ever be enough to compensate Lieutenant Burgess for the injuries he sustained that day. We are so fortunate that he did not lose his life that day protecting our community, but this is a reminder that all our law enforcement officers willingly do everything they can every day to protect our citizens. So, to all our law enforcement partners, I profoundly thank you for your service to Harford County. In the Circuit Court for Harford County, today, justice was served.”
Watch the full press conference below:
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