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Two men, one juvenile arrested for rash of Glenwood Springs-area vehicle break-ins

Pete Fowler
pfowler@postindependent.com
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado ” Two Glenwood Springs detectives in an undercover vehicle Wednesday night discovered who they believe has been breaking into vehicles in the Glenwood Springs area.

The detectives arrested Steven Morgan, 20, and Christian Guyon, 18, and a juvenile, all of Glenwood Springs, on suspicion of theft and eight counts each of criminal trespass into a vehicle.

The arrests came after Glenwood Springs Police Chief Terry Wilson said in early November that around 37 thefts from vehicles occurred over the previous two months. That brought the total number for 2008 up to around 68 at that time. Wilson warned people to lock their car doors and remove all valuable items so as not to make it easy for people to steal. Most of the thefts occurred from unlocked cars where valuables were in plain sight.



Cell phones, laptop computers, digital music players, portable DVD players and even firearms were among the items taken from cars. In a news release, the Glenwood Springs Police Department said as many as 2,000 vehicles have been broken into over the last six months in the Glenwood Springs area.

Wilson said the figure is a rough estimate based on the approximate number of vehicles the three entered each night and the duration of the crime spree. “It’s been pretty much a nightly occurrence,” Wilson said.



He said many of the entries into vehicles went unreported and many of them may not have resulted in a theft.

Wilson said the three suspects have been initially charged with eight counts of criminal trespass because that’s how many of the vehicle break-in cases police feel very confident about.

Police said in news release that two detectives were driving around Glenwood in an undercover vehicle Wednesday before midnight when they spotted people breaking into vehicles on Sopris Avenue. The juvenile and Guyon were arrested, but Morgan got away and was arrested the next morning, police said.

Police said they recovered items stolen from multiple vehicles that were stashed under a bush, and other items from the residence at which Morgan was arrested. Guyon admitted that he broke into “several” vehicles with Morgan and the juvenile, police said in an arrest affidavit. He allegedly told police he’d been doing it on and off for three months, but the other two were doing it “a lot longer.” He said they took the stolen items to a house where Morgan and the juvenile lived and sold them for cash, but that he had made less than $100, police said.

The juvenile may have caught a lucky legal break because he was 17 when he got arrested that night but turned 18 Sunday. Juveniles are typically prosecuted in a more lenient manner.

The suspects in this case appear to have ties to suspects in a string of around 38 break-ins at Roaring Fork Valley businesses that culminated in summer 2007. The juvenile was also implicated in some of those crimes, as well as Guyon’s brother, Bradley.

The GSPD will be posting a list of recovered property at the police station and at http://www.glenwoodpolice.com. Police said investigation is ongoing and more arrests may occur, so anyone with information about the crimes is encouraged to contact the GSPD at 384-6500 or investigations@glenwoodpolice.com.

Contact Pete Fowler: 384-9121

pfowler@postindependent.com

Post Independent, Glenwood Springs Colorado CO


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