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Rodman gets bill cleared

Dennis Webb
Post Independent

Dennis Rodman can forget his unpaid gasoline bill and keep the hat.

An anonymous basketball fan has paid the remaining money that the flamboyant, retired basketball star owed for filling up his Lamborghini July 26 at a west Glenwood Springs store. As a result, city police have decided against pursuing charges against Rodman for the alleged gas skip.

Police chief Terry Wilson said police also won’t take criminal action regarding a cowboy hat that Rodman took from the Tomahawk Auto Truck Plaza and didn’t pay for. Wilson said it remains unclear whether Rodman believed he had been given the hat in exchange for signing an autograph for a store clerk.



“There was definitely room for interpretation that the hat might be considered in exchange for the autograph,” Wilson said.

Rodman was let off the hook on the gas bill after a woman came into the store last week and offered to pay what he still owed. He had left $20 for the gas, but the bill was for more than $40.



Wilson said police were preparing paperwork on the case and seeing if charges were warranted when they contacted the store to see if Rodman has paid the rest of the bill. It turns out that a woman who didn’t identify herself covered the shortfall.

“Since they accepted payment, that was the end of any involvement by this department,” Wilson said. “As long as our local business was made whole and they’re happy with that, I’m happy too.”

A store employee who would not give her name said the woman paid Rodman’s bill in cash.

“All I know is I just took the money from her and that’s it. I did not ask her name or anything,” the employee said.

“She just said she came in to pay Dennis Rodman’s gas bill and that she’s a basketball fan.”

The employee said she was busy and didn’t get a good look at the woman, who didn’t say where she was from. The woman was probably 45 to 50 years old, the employee said.

The employee said she thinks Rodman still should be responsible for the unpaid bill.

“But I’m not going to complain when somebody came in and paid for it. At least we got the money.”

Rodman’s legal issues in Colorado aren’t over, however. The same day as the gas incident, a state trooper pulled him over on Interstate 70 near Frisco and cited him for speeding and reckless driving.

Capt. Ron Prater of the Colorado State Patrol office in Frisco said Rodman is due in Summit County Court in Breckenridge on Sept. 14.

Rodman reportedly was clocked heading west at 98 mph. He was part of a group driving across the country in a charity rally involving public figures in high-priced vehicles.

Contact Dennis Webb: 945-8515, ext. 516

dwebb@postindependent.com


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