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Punch drunk on Main Street

Rick Carroll
The Aspen Times
Post Independent
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado
Tyler Pickett
ALL |

An Aspen visitor apparently picked the wrong window to punch late Tuesday night.

It was near 11 p.m. when Ute City Cycles mechanic Evan Winn was winding down the night. He’d spent the latter part of the day up Independence Pass fishing, and returned to the Main Street shop to do some maintenance on his bike. He was by himself “in here tuning my bike about to head out and I hear a pop, and saw these guys running away laughing,” Winn said Wednesday. “I followed them and kept on their tail. I was not happy that they were laughing.”

Winn said the men weren’t aware he was trailing them, and he also called the Aspen Police Department, which dispatched several officers to hunt down the tandem. He initially reported that someone had thrown a rock through the window, but officers later learned that suspect James Tyler Pickett, 25, of Thornton, Colo., had allegedly punched the glass.



The evidence appeared to be a cut on Pickett’s left hand “that was bleeding slightly,” wrote Officer Dave Rosselot in an affidavit in support of warrantless arrest. Police tracked down Pickett at the Tyrolean Lodge, where he and his friend were staying. The two had split up shortly after the incident.

After police confronted Pickett, they called paramedics to inspect his cut. Medical attention was not needed, so he was taken to jail.



Pickett’s friend, meanwhile, was found by police near the intersection of Garmisch and Main streets. The friend told police “that nobody had thrown a rock through the window and that his friend had punched the window,” Rosselot wrote. The friend said he was on the north side of Main Street, across from the shop, when Pickett did the damage. The friend also informed police “he heard a large crash, and looked over to see Pickett running towards him saying, ‘I’m bleeding!'”

Later, police determined Pickett’s alleged punch had inflicted $1,200 in damages to the shop. The cost to replace the window will be $600, and another $600 is needed to fix a Yeti mountain bike’s custom-paint job, which was ruined by falling glass from the window. Additionally, a $120 bicycle seat on the Yeti was damaged.

On Wednesday, Pickett was released from Pitkin County Jail after posting $5,000 bond. He faces one class-four felony charge of criminal mischief. Pickett’s friend was not cited or arrested.

Winn said he’s not sure what Pickett’s motive was.

“They sounded pretty wasted, or hopped up on something,” he said.

In the meantime, the window won’t be replaced until later this week when a new pane arrives from Denver, Winn said. For now, a cardboard slab from a Fox Racing Shox box will serve as a replacement.

rcarroll@aspentimes.com


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