Evidence suggests Aspen jewelry store burglary suspect still on run
Suspects thought to be connected with South American crime network
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Four suspects appeared in the Pitkin County Court on Monday to review their charges relating to last month’s Aspen jewelry store burglary. But five suspects were identified in security camera footage of the burglary.
A group of five masked men allegedly tunneled through the walls of Wayan, a recently opened Indonesian restaurant, and Forré Fine Art gallery in Aspen on the night between Nov. 10 and Nov. 11. They were trying to access the vault of Avi and Co, which reportedly contained watches worth up to $400,000, according to a case affidavit. At the time of burglary Wayan was being renovated.
Detective Lauren Turner wrote in the affidavit that the style of burglary was similar to a past burglary she investigated of Louis Vuitton, which was carried out by the “South American Theft Gang,” a group known for traveling to the United States with fake identification and fraudulent credit cards to target high-end retail stores.
After two misses with the Aspen Police Department on the night of the burglary, four suspects were apprehended in Vail by the Vail Police Department on the afternoon of Nov. 11, before being brought to the Pitkin County Jail by Aspen police, according to the affidavit.
A fifth individual, identified in the Avi and Co burglary footage, was not part of the arrest.
The investigation identified individuals allegedly connected to the burglary in the 24 hours before the arrest.
Aspen Police Detective Adriano Minniti, who arrived on the scene of the burglary, reviewed Forré Fine Art security camera footage from the afternoon before the burglary. The gallery employees recalled three men acting suspiciously, who walked through the store and looked around but did not show legitimate interest in purchasing art, according to the affidavit.
Aspen Police Corporal Seth DelGrasso recognized the individuals from a traffic stop of a Red 2024 Nissan Pathfinder he had made the evening before the burglary. The car contained six individuals and a trunk full of tools that looked to be brand new, according to DelGrasso.
The individuals claimed they had been doing construction along Interstate 70 but had driven to Aspen to get a steakhouse dinner at Hickory House, which DelGrasso found strange as Aspen is out of the way and the Hickory House is not a steakhouse.
The officers put out a “Be On The Lookout” alert for police around the state to be aware of the car. Vail police identified the car and detained the suspects on Nov. 11, about half a day after the burglary.
Aspen police interviewed each suspect and searched the Nissan after obtaining a warrant, according to the affidavit.
Turner explained in the affidavit that the first suspect they interviewed, who is 34-years-old from Peru, was wearing the same shiny Nautica jacket identified on one of the suspects in the burglary footage and in the earlier traffic stop, leading her to believe the man was involved in the burglary. He was also wearing the same shoes, black sneakers with white soles, as the suspect in the burglary.
Turner identified the second suspect she interviewed as a 41-year-old from Buenos Aires who had been looking around the gallery. He had been wearing a green Tommy Hilfinger jacket while surveying the gallery, which they later found in the car. The shoes he had been wearing in the gallery were the same on one of the suspects in the burglary footage. They also found a brown puffer jacket in the car, which one of the men in the burglary video had been wearing.
They found the shoe print of the third suspect interviewed by Turner, a 35-year-old from Chile, at the crime scene.
She said she recognized the final suspect, a 43-year-old also from Chile, to be one of the men looking around the Forré Art Gallery the afternoon before the burglary, according to the affidavit.
One of the men caught on camera in the burglary and surveying the gallery was wearing an olive green jacket with no hood or fur and a black baseball cap. She believes the suspect to be one of the men in the preliminary traffic stop.
“This suspect is still unknown to me,” wrote Turner when describing the suspect. He was not identified as one of the men in the Vail detainment and later arrest.
The 34-year-old from Peru and the 41-year-old from Buenos Aires were charged with three felony counts of second-degree burglary, one felony count of criminal attempt to commit theft, one felony count of criminal attempt to influence a public servant (for lying to the police about their names) and one felony count of criminal mischief.
Their bond remained at $100,000 cash only in the Monday court proceedings. They will continue proceedings on Jan. 6.
The 43-year-old from Chile was charged with three felony counts of conspiring to commit second-degree burglary and one felony count of attempting to influence a public servant, for lying about his name to the police. His bond remained at $25,000 cash only. He will continue trial proceedings on Dec. 20.
Judge Laura Maker reduced the bond of the 35-year-old from Chile from $25,000 cash only to $5,000 cash only primarily because he was the only suspect who did not lie about his name to the police and posed less of a flight risk. He was charged with three counts of conspiracy to commit second degree burglary. He will continue court proceedings on Jan. 21.
Skyler Stark-Ragsdale can be reached at 970-429-9152 or email him at sstark-ragsdale@aspentimes.com.
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