Avon cops say $16,000 in electronics stolen

Editor’s note: The following excerpts were taken from Eagle County law enforcement officers and police reports.

AVON — Police found $16,000 in stolen electronics in the rental car of a man falsely accused of stealing a $2 pie, said Detective Paul Arnold of the Avon Police Department.

A sales clerk reported that Fernando Ruiz-Huerta stole a $2 pie from Phillips 66 on March 19. Ruiz-Huerta denied stealing the pie when he was pulled over on Interstate 70.

Police followed Ruiz-Huerta back to the gas station, where they learned that Ruiz-Huerta did not steal the pie. However, he didn’t have a driver’s license, Arnold said.

Jose Luis Hernandez, Ruiz-Huerta’s passenger, told police he could drive and gave Arnold a fake California driver’s license and Social Security card, Arnold said.

Police searched the car and found 10 stolen laptops, a video-game system and a digital camera, Arnold said.

The laptops’ manufacturer said they were stolen during burglaries at three Circuit City stores, Arnold said. Surveillance footage showed the men stealing a few of the laptops from a Circuit City in suburban Denver, Arnold said.

Hernandez, an illegal immigrant, was arrested on suspicion of forgery and criminal impersonation, and felony theft charges were pending for both men last week, Arnold said.

Man stole $7,000 in items, cops say

BACHELOR GULCH — A man illegally charged $7,000 in sporting goods at Beaver Creek Sports to several Ritz-Carlton guests, according to an Eagle County Sheriff’s Office report.

Jeffrey Collins O’Neill, 24, of Carlsbad, Calif., charged almost $1,300 to a hotel guest’s room and more than $930 to another guest’s room March 22 to buy items from Beaver Creek Sports in The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch, the report said. An employee noticed that O’Neill used two different names, the report said.

O’Neill also bought almost $5,000 in sporting goods using different names in February, though he denied being there that month, the report said.

O’Neill was arrested on suspicion of two counts of criminal impersonation and forgery and one count of second-degree trespassing.

Woman vomits in cop’s car

EAGLE — A woman who beat up her boyfriend later vomited in a deputy’s car, according to an Eagle County Sheriff’s Office report.

A 29-year-old man’s 30-year-old girlfriend hit, bit and pushed him March 14 because she was upset that he had had sex with another woman.

She was arrested, and on the way to jail, she said she felt sick and threw up in the back of the deputy’s car.

She normally did not drink as much as she had that night, she said.

Girlfriend suspected of trying to choke sleeping man

GYPSUM — A 32-year-old woman tried to choke her boyfriend while he was sleeping, according to an Eagle County Sheriff’s Office report.

The girlfriend and the 27-year-old boyfriend argued March 20. The boyfriend woke up early the next morning to the girlfriend grabbing his throat as she straddled him.

The boyfriend couldn’t breathe and was able to push away his girlfriend and call 911.

The girlfriend said she’d had a few beers at a bar that night and just wanted to talk. She tried to choke him only because he tried to choke her, she said.

She was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence and harassment.

Inmate ticketed in jail

EAGLE — A 29-year-old inmate who was upset that he was locked in his jail cell was hit by a 20-year-old inmate, according to an Eagle County Sheriff’s Office report.

The 29-year-old was playing cards when someone locked him inside his cell March 20. The inmate pushed a button, and a sheriff’s deputy unlocked his door.

The 29-year-old asked who locked his door, and the 20-year-old pushed him onto the ground and punched his head a couple of times.

The 20-year-old denied hitting the 29-year-old. He was ticketed for harassment.

Purse with $400 found

EAGLE — A woman’s missing purse was found with her $400 still inside it after she lost the purse at City Market, according to Eagle Police.

The 71-year-old woman couldn’t find her purse — in which she had $400, several credit cards and a digital camera — after she loaded her groceries into her car.

Employees couldn’t find her purse either, and police helped her cancel the credit cards.

Five days later, the bag turned up in the grocery store’s safe. Only the woman’s digital camera was missing.

The Eagle Valley Enterprise contributed to this report. Staff Writer Steve Lynn can be reached at 748-2931 or slynn@vaildaily.com.