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Potted plant smasher pleads guilty

Bobby Joe Honeycutt
Staff Photo |

Bobby Joe Honeycutt, a Glenwood Springs man notorious for a rampage against downtown’s potted plants last year, pleaded guilty to felony criminal mischief in the vandalism case.

Early one July morning in 2015 “officers found nearly every pot and planter overturned and damaged in a multiple-block radius,” according to Glenwood Springs police.

Officers arrested Honeycutt by about 5:20 a.m. on suspicion of the vandalism. Prosecutors say he damaged the property of 10 downtown businesses or residents as well as property of the city itself. The damage stretched from Cooper Avenue to Colorado Avenue and from Seventh Street to Eighth Street.



After initially entering a not guilty plea, Honeycutt pleaded guilty to criminal mischief causing $1,000 to $5,000 in damage, a class 6 felony that’s punishable by one year to 18 months in prison and fines from $1,000 to $100,000.

In a plea deal the district attorney dismissed other charges in the case, including a class 5 felony criminal mischief, which was for $5,000 to $20,000 in damage; and the misdemeanors obstructing a peace officer, first-degree criminal tampering and violating bail bond conditions.



Included in this plea deal was also another recent drug case against Honeycutt, in which he pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine, a class 1 drug misdemeanor.

The presumptive range for this charge is 6 to 18 months in prison and fines from $500 to $5,000.

Just a couple months after being arrested for the pot-smashing escapade, Glenwood Springs police found him with nearly a gram of methamphetamine, a scale and several plastic bags.

With the plea deal, Honeycutt avoided some more serious charges in the drug case, including felony possession with intent to distribute and felony possession of methamphetamine.

The district attorney’s office agreed to allow concurrent sentencing in these cases.

Additionally, five more misdemeanor cases were dismissed as part of this plea agreement.

In December, Honeycutt underwent a competency evaluation with the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo and was found competent for court proceedings.

The defendant is familiar to local police. A Glenwood Springs officer wrote in an affidavit that they have nearly nightly contact with Honeycutt.

His criminal history in Colorado dates back to a DUI in 1992, and includes more than 30 run-ins with the law. Before the pot smashing incident in last year, he had two arrests in 2015 for charges including trespassing, disorderly conduct, harassment and criminal tampering.


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