Body work scam

Two Edwards residents had body work done on their vehicles and suspected they had been ripped off. They notified deputies Dec. 6.

One of the women was shopping in Avon when three men approached her and offered to fix the dents and scratches in her car for $725 cash. She was a little suspicious because she had received previous estimates that the damage would cost $2,000 to fix. The men were convincing, smooth talkers, however.

They offered to do the work in the parking lot but the woman invited them to use her garage because it was cold outside. When they finished, some of the dents were fixed and the scratches were covered with colored paste. The men said to leave it on until it had time to cure.

The woman only wanted to pay half until the paste was removed but she felt bad for the their working in the cold and they seemed honest. She paid and sent them to a friend who also needed work on her car. Later, when she removed the paste, the scratches were still there.

The second woman had a similar experience. She paid the men $200 and a dent was fixed but scratches were still there after the paste was removed.

She told deputies that the men were driving a white Ford crew-cab pickup. The truck had a blue “In n Out mobile body repair” sticker on its side. The men were slender with darker skin and dark hair. They might have been Hispanic or Italian but they spoke perfect English. One man was about 6-foot-3. A second was 5-foot-2 with blue eyes and a third was 5-foot-8 with amber eyes.

The men left a phone number with a 720 area code to contact them but it appeared to be false. When a deputy called, the man who answered said he had no idea what the officer was talking about.

Up in smoke

On Dec. 6, a deputy stopped a car with a defective tail light on U.S. Highway 6 in Eagle-Vail.

Upon contacting the 21-year-old driver, the officer smelled burned marijuana and the driver appeared to be under the influence.

The officer asked where the marijuana was and the front passenger, a 23-year-old man, said it was under his seat. A 21-year-old woman in the back said there was a pipe on the floor. The three people in the car said the drugs and paraphernalia belonged to all of them.

The three were cited for possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of less than one ounce of marijuana. The driver was also cited for driving under the influence of drugs and for the tail light, and was released into the custody of a sober person.

Smashed window

A resident of Autumn Glen Court in Gypsum reported an attempted burglary on Dec. 7.

The 52-year-old man said that someone tried to break into his home between Dec. 2 and Dec. 4. A garage window had been smashed in with a large rock and screens were cut off two other windows. The rock and pieces of the window were still on the garage floor. Obstacles around the window might have prevented access because nothing was stolen.

The man said he was only making the report for insurance purposes. He estimated the damage would cost $500 to fix.

Suspicious incident

A woman told deputies on Dec. 7 about suspicious incidents that occurred at her home on Apache Drive in Gypsum several weeks before.

She said she woke up to her small dog barking and heard someone go, “Shhh,” to the dog. She didn't hear or see anyone after that, but called her dog up and locked herself in the room for the rest of the night.

She did not find anything missing in the morning but a basement window was unlocked and there was some mud on the floor. The woman was sure the window had been locked.

A week later, she noticed fresh shoe prints leading up to her house. On Thanksgiving, she found that all three basement windows had been unlocked.

A deputy advised her to call the sheriff's office next time she felt like someone was entering the house.

DUI

A deputy stopped a driver for weaving on Grand Avenue in Eagle on Dec. 10.

The officer noticed the 21-year-old man displayed signs of intoxication. He asked him to perform voluntary roadside maneuvers and the man did not complete them to the officer's satisfaction.

The man submitted to a breath test at the jail. He was cited for driving while under the influence of alcohol and weaving. His driver's license was revoked and he was released to a sober friend.

Up in smoke II

On Dec. 14, a deputy stopped a car at the intersection of Edwards Village Boulevard and U.S. Highway 6 after he saw the driver perform an illegal U-turn.

The officer smelled marijuana upon contacting the 27-year-old driver. The man denied that there was any in the car. The deputy asked to search the vehicle and the man refused. The deputy said he thought he had enough evidence to call a drug-sniffing dog to the scene and the man admitted that he had some pot in the car. He handed over two small containers of marijuana and a pipe.

The man was cited for possession of drug paraphernalia and less than an ounce of marijuana.

Drunken monster truck driving

A deputy was driving north on Valley Road in Gypsum on Dec. 16 when he saw a large pickup pass another car at 47 mph in a 30 mph no-passing zone.

The officer followed the truck, which weaved and only slowed down a little. Eventually the truck started to slow down and pull over. For a moment, the officer suspected the driver was going to take off again but the truck stopped part way off the road.

The officer had to knock on the window to talk to the 30-year-old driver and immediately smelled alcohol on the man's breath. He asked the man why he was driving so recklessly. The man said he just wanted to get home because his wife was going to be mad at him.

The truck was outfitted with an after-market lift kit and the deputy had to stand on his toes to look inside. The man was slow to do things that were asked of him and the officer saw him put his hand on the gear shift several times, as if he might drive off at any moment. He had the man turn off the ignition and asked him to perform voluntary roadside maneuvers once a backup deputy arrived.

The man failed the voluntary tests and was arrested for further investigation of DUI. He submitted to a breath test at the jail. He was cited for DUI, speeding, passing where prohibited and driving without proof of insurance. His driver's license was confiscated and he was released to the custody of a sober person.