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Glenwood man charged in July burglary of Habitat’s ReStore

John Gardner
Post Independent Staff
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado – A Glenwood Springs man has been arrested for his alleged involvement in the burglary of the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in July.

William Lewis Riddle, 20, was arrested in Kansas and extradited to Garfield County on second degree burglary charges. He had a warrant out for his arrest for failing to appear at a previous unrelated court date. He was booked into the jail on Sept. 6, where he remains on a $40,000 bond.

Riddle is suspected of being one of two people who ran from Garfield County Sheriff’s Deputies on July 3, the same day that the ReStore was broken into.



In November 2007, Riddle was one of five adults arrested in connection with some 38 burglaries of businesses in Glenwood Springs, Carbondale, and parts of Garfield County, earlier that year. A few juveniles were also arrested in connection with the case.

Deputies responded to a call around 7 a.m. on July 3, of reported burglaries at the ReStore and CapCo Tile and Stone, located near Highway 82 and County Road 113 about five miles south of Glenwood Springs.



Later the same day, two employees of the ReStore called deputies after witnessing two males loading the safe into a silver Honda Accord, according to an arrest affidavit for Riddle. Apparently, the safe had been stashed just down the road from the ReStore. The employees were able to relay the license plate information to authorities.

A short while later, deputies contacted the silver Honda, matching the description near the same location. The two occupants jumped out of the car and fled on foot, but deputies were unable to apprehend either of the suspects at that time.

However, inside the car’s trunk remained the ReStore’s safe. The safe appeared to have drill holes in it and was cut with some type of saw in an attempt to open it, the affidavit stated.

Deputies quickly discovered that the silver Honda had been reported to Glenwood Springs Police as stolen by its owner, Amanda Emmons.

Emmons told investigators in an interview that she had went to work in the Glenwood Springs Mall at about 2 p.m. on July 3, and when she came out about 6 p.m., her car was gone.

According to the affidavit, Emmons told investigators that she may have left her keys on top of the car when she was grabbing some things out of the trunk before she went inside the mall.

A couple of days later, Emmons returned to the Sheriff’s Office. This time she told the detective that she had in fact loaned her car to a friend. That friend was “Billy Riddle,” the affidavit stated.

Investigators contacted the business owner where Emmons works, and was able to get surveillance tapes of July 3, which showed Riddle entering the store on July 3 and briefly speaking with Emmons. A few moments later, a receptionist handed Riddle a set of car keys, the affidavit stated.

Emmons also told police that she didn’t know anything about the burglary, but she said that Riddle called her just before 6 p.m. on July 3, after fleeing from deputies and said, “You’re gonna hate me, but you need to report your car stolen so you don’t get involved,” the affidavit stated.

According to the incident report, the thieves got between $225 and $250 from the CapCo Tile. However, the ReStore safe had not yet been used and was empty.

Authorities have not made another arrest in the ReStore case as of Thursday.

In the 2007 case, Riddle, who was originally charged with 13 burglary-related counts, pleaded guilty to burglary and was sentenced to supervised probation. He was implicated in the crimes when one of the other suspects’ ex-girlfriend told police about a stolen safe from the Yampah Spa and Vapor Caves.

He also faces charges of failure to appear on a previous drug related case where he allegedly sold ecstasy to an undercover informant in January. He was arrested on felony distribution of a controlled substance and conspiracy charges in April in that case.

jgardner@postindependent.com


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