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Crime Briefs: Snowmobiler with ‘anger isusesh’ rams Ford

Ryan Summerlin
rsummerlin@postindependent.com

A 32-year-old man snowmobiling at Marian Gulch near Carbondale in January returned to the trailhead to find his truck had been battered and a note that read “Sorryy anger isusesh,” according to a police report.

Two witnesses said a 53-year-old man who they’d been snowmobiling with who had been drinking all day had smashed up the truck with a baseball bat.

The truck owner had parked behind the man’s vehicle and a friend of his parked in front, though he said they’d left plenty of room to get out.



Both the witnesses heard whacking sounds; one saw him swinging a baseball bat around. They insisted that he leave a note to pay for the damage.

The owner found multiple dents in the truck and his trailer. The plastic bug shield on the hood and the Ford emblem were broken. The license plate was dented. One door appeared to have been kicked in.



One of the witnesses added that the 53-year-old was able to back up a little and get out of the spot without a problem.

He was arrested Feb. 7 on a felony charge of criminal mischief.

Homeless man charged in CAR BREAK-INS

A 48-year-old homeless man from Oregon picked up three felony cases in about 10 days after police tied him to multiple vehicle trespassing cases.

On Feb. 4, a woman’s wallet was stolen from her vehicle in the St. Stephen’s Catholic Church parking lot. And in the following days transactions started showing up from City Market, then for drinks from the Hotel Colorado.

The woman’s purse was found a couple days later at a construction site on 19th Street, where the suspect was captured on security camera footage. Likewise, police were able to spot him on City Market cameras, and a Hotel Colorado bartender identified him.

He was eventually arrested on charges of felony first-degree criminal trespass, along with theft and unauthorized use of a financial transaction device, both misdemeanors.

On Feb. 9, Rifle police responded to a theft at Blush Hair Salon. The owner reported that a man attempted to steal a necklace from the store, but the owner confronted him quickly and he eventually gave it back. An officer found this man at the Rifle library and arrested him in the theft.

Officers later responded to two vehicle trespasses in Rifle, one right outside of the salon.

A woman in a hurry near the salon had left her keys in her car door. She returned to find her keys missing, and her car appeared to have been rummaged through. Officers found on the man a set of Ford keys that the woman identified as hers.

Another woman reported that as she was leaving the Rifle City Market earlier that day she found a man sitting in the driver’s seat of her car. She didn’t positively identify him in a photo lineup, but her description of the man and some of the items he was wearing convinced the officer that he was the same man.

He was arrested in this case on two felony counts of first-degree criminal trespassing, another felony count of first-degree introduction of contraband, along with misdemeanor theft and petty offense theft.

In a third case, an Alpine Bank employee in Rifle reported on Feb. 15 that someone had entered his vehicle and taken several items.

Security footage from the building showed a man entering a red Dodge Dakota and rummaging through it for about a minute. A Rifle officer recognized the man as the same 48-year-old who was arrested about a week prior. He was arrested on charges of felony first-degree trespass and misdemeanor theft.

Revoked driver found with cocaine

Just past midnight Jan. 21, a Carbondale police officer spotted a red Subaru Legacy with a license plate he recognized from a stop earlier in the month. He knew the 31-year-old to which the license plate was registered had a revoked licensed and that the plate was registered to a Land Rover.

The officer stopped the vehicle and arrested the 31-year-old driver.

In the vehicle, in a loose compartment below the radio, officers also found five small bags containing a total of up to 5 grams of cocaine.

The 31-year-old said he had just bought the Legacy and there might be some marijuana inside. He denied any knowledge of the cocaine.

He was arrested on distribution/manufacturing a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance, both drug felonies, along with misdemeanor driving under revocation.

man tased at Rifle Kum & Go

Rifle police responded to reports on Tuesday that a man with a Mesa County warrant for fraud/forgery of checks was spotted at Wal-Mart.

An officer found him in a nearby Kum & Go parking lot, rummaging through the passenger side of his truck.

An officer identified him and informed him he was under arrest. The man began to pull away and started to put his hands in his pockets. The officer pulled his Taser and commanded the 29-year-old to keep his hands out, but the man continued to try to put his hands in his pockets and in the vehicle.

The officer eventually fired his Taser and reactivated it multiple times to gain compliance.

The officer believed the man was under the influence of a stimulant.

The 29-year-old’s brother later told police that he’d spotted his brother in his truck that morning, where their mother’s credit card had been. Officers found in the 29-year-old’s wallet receipts for gift cards for a total of $550 purchased with the credit card.

In his truck they found a digital scale with methamphetamine residue, a used syringe, another man’s checkbook and a backpack containing multiple “slim jims” used for breaking into vehicles.

He was arrested on possession of a controlled substance, a drug felony, along with criminal trespass and possession of burglary tools, which are both felonies. His misdemeanor arresting charges also included resisting arrest.

Shoplifter found with meth pipe

Glenwood Springs officers were dispatched to Wal-Mart for a report of theft the evening of Feb. 10. A woman had stolen a purse, which she had also filled with other merchandise she hadn’t paid for, according to Wal-Mart’s loss prevention officer.

She took these items into the restroom, and when she came out a police officer was waiting for her.

In the purse, which she claimed as her own, the officer found $48.11 worth of items matching what the Wal-Mart employee described. The woman said she had taken the tags off these items and thrown them in the trash in the restroom.

The officer searched her and also found a glass methamphetamine pipe with a substantial amount of residue still inside and a torch lighter, according to an affidavit.

She was arrested on charges of possession of a controlled substance, a drug felony, along with possession of drug paraphernalia and theft, both petty offenses.


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