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Woman witnesses broad daylight theft in Avon

Steve Lynn
Vail Correspondent
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado

AVON, Colorado ” Jim Rogers still can’t believe someone parked a car directly behind his pickup truck and allegedly stole $2,000 in tools Sunday afternoon in a grocery store parking lot.

“I just can’t believe the balls of some people,” said Rogers, a carpenter who uses the tools for his business, Elliott Carpentry in Minturn.

Police arrested Roque Gonzalez Jurado, 37, whom they say is an illegal immigrant, after they found him with Rogers’ tools inside the trunk of his red car Sunday, according to an Avon police report.



A witness saw Jurado taking the tools and got a license plate number, which police traced to a home in Aspens Mobile Home Village, the report says.

Police later pulled over Jurado at the trailer park and found the tools when Jurado let them search it, the report says.



Jurado denied stealing the tools and said he had lent his car to a man named “Juan,” but didn’t know his last name, the report says.

Before Jurado was arrested, an Australian woman on vacation had been parked next to Rogers when he arrived at City Market, Rogers said.

She saw Rogers walk inside City Market as she waited for her family to do some shopping and 30 seconds later, she saw a man stealing tools from Rogers’ unlocked car, Rogers said.

She waited for the man to leave and walked inside City Market in Avon to tell him about it, Rogers said. Rogers left his groceries inside and left to call police, he said.

“Thank God this woman saw this,” he said. “She felt in her heart it wasn’t right.”

Rogers said he had never seen Jurado before, but he’s glad he got his tools back.

“For me to go out and drop a couple thousand dollars is just out of the question now,” Rogers said. “It would have been a really hard hit to take.”

Jurado is being held on a $2,500 bond in Eagle County jail. He also has an U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement hold, so he will stay in jail until his case goes through the courts, Avon Police Chief Brian Kozak said.

Staff Writer Steve Lynn can be reached at 748-2931 or slynn@vaildaily.com.


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