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Crime Briefs: Erratic driver busted for smoking pot with teens

Garfield County deputies arrested a 26-year-old Parachute man after finding him smoking weed with two 16-year-olds, according to an affidavit.

He was first spotted the evening of Dec. 13 in a white Honda Civic after he turned right through a red light at the intersection of County Road 300 and an Interstate 70 exit ramp. He apparently pulled out closely enough in front of a deputy’s cruiser that the officer had to brake to avoid crashing into the Honda.

Afterward, with the deputy’s cruiser following, the Honda Civic slowed down to 20 mph in a 35 mph lane, straddling two lanes at times.



When the deputy pulled the car over, he noticed that the driver had red and squinty eyes, according to an affidavit.

“The driver also appeared to be squinting at me even though I did not have a light in his eyes,” the deputy wrote.



With him in the car were a pair of 16-year-old boys who later told police they’d been smoking marijuana with the driver, according to the deputy.

Officers later found a grinder and a glass pipe, both containing marijuana.

When the driver opened his glove box to get his registration, the deputy saw a Springfield XD45 handgun, which the deputy then secured.

The Parachute man also had a warrant for assault out of Mesa County, and the deputy called in backup.

Officers arrested him on charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a class 4 felony; weaving on the road; driving with a restrained license; no insurance; driving with an open marijuana container; and driving under the influence.

SHOPLIFTING LEADS TO AUTO THEFT CHARGE

Wal-Mart security caught a Montana man stealing food and clothing, and Glenwood Springs police later arrested him for also stealing a truck, according to police.

Officers were initially dispatched for a shoplifting call at the Glenwood Wal-Mart. A Wal-Mart loss prevention officer spotted the suspect stuffing a shirt in his satchel, in which he also saw food.

The store officer detained the Montana man after he’d left the building without paying. He uncovered $32.18 worth of merchandise the 20-something was taking, according to police.

Glenwood Springs polices later found another $24.05 in merchandise on the suspect.

The man also had multiple extraditable warrants out of Montana for burglary, according to an affidavit.

The responding officer also recognized the Montana man as a suspect from a motor vehicle theft case in November. Glenwood officers were called for a 1996 Dodge Ram 2500 pickup with Montana plates abandoned in the Wal-Mart parking lot.

The truck was reported stolen from Bozeman in late October.

Video surveillance showed a man similar the Montana man’s description standing next to the stolen truck in the Wal-Mart parking lot, and later leaving it there.

He was living nearby in a tent, according to an affidavit.

Telling police that he’d stolen the food and merchandise because he’d fallen on hard times he added that “the legal system in Montana is a ‘trap’ and he ‘just ran.’”

Glenwood Springs police arrested him on charges of aggravated motor vehicle theft, a class 5 felony, and misdemeanor theft.


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