Eagle County man accused of attempted armed robbery in Avon and stealing more than $15,000 in jewelry from Vail store
An Eagle County man is in custody after being arrested and charged for an alleged attempted armed robbery at an Avon convenience store and a break-in at a jewelry store in Vail Village during the early morning hours of Oct. 20.
Edwards resident Mamadou Gatta Sow, 40, who was taken into custody on Sunday a week after the two alleged crimes, faces eight felonies and a misdemeanor. Felony charges include criminal attempt to commit a crime, aggravated robbery, motor vehicle theft, menacing with a weapon, tampering with evidence, second-degree burglary, theft of $20,000 to $100,000, and criminal mischief of $5,000 to $20,000. Gatta Sow was also charged with possession of burglary tools, a misdemeanor.
The alleged incident — according to an arrest affidavit for Sow — started just after 4 a.m. on Oct. 20 at the Maverick convenience store in Avon, when a witness said Sow used what appeared to be a nine-millimeter handgun to threaten a worker at the convenience store, asking the employee to give him any money the store might have on hand at the time. The worker said his response was to tell Sow that the store did not have any cash on hand, and that “there were cameras everywhere,” according to the affidavit.
“The suspect then ran from the store and left in a silver Audi Q5,” according to the affidavit.
Seventeen minutes later, town of Vail officers responded to an alarm at Lamina jewelry store in Vail Village and observed a front display window to be broken, along with a jewelry case inside the store.
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“Vail police officers reviewed Town of Vail surveillance video and observed a silver Audi Q5 drive westbound on Meadow Drive and stop in front of Lamina,” according to the affidavit. “A dark-skinned male party wearing a black ‘puffy’ coat, black pants, black shoes and a white beanie style hat exits the vehicle.
“The suspect party walks towards the front of Lamina carrying what appears to possibly be a hammer or similar tool,” the report continues. “The suspect is seen swinging his arm towards the window, reaching into the window, then running back towards his vehicle. As the suspect is running, he is seen putting what was later confirmed to be a jewelry display inside his coat. The vehicle then drives westbound on Meadow Drive, turns north onto Vail Road and then travels in an unknown direction from the Main Vail Roundabout.”
A store manager at the jewelry store said 19 pieces of jewelry were stolen, valued at $15,480.
In reviewing the security footage from the Avon convenience store, officers were able to see body damage on the rear driver’s side of the vehicle, but there were no license plates on the vehicle.
Using a Colorado database, a Vail detective was able to locate an Audi with identical body damage to the Audi used in the attempted robbery and burglary, according to the affidavit. The vehicle was registered to a Vail man, with whom Vail police later made contact through a search warrant. In serving the warrant, police located the man hiding in the shower of the residence and arrested him. No items related to the burglary were located inside the residence.
In interviewing the arrested party, an Avon Police Department detective learned that Sow had been using the man’s vehicle on the night of the alleged robbery. Officers impounded the vehicle and searched it, locating a gold earring and a gold necklace which was later confirmed to be stolen from Lamina.
“On the back passenger side floorboard, a heavy blue plumbing wrench was in a black plastic trash bag, this tool could have been used to break the glass window and jewelry case at Lamina,” according to the affidavit. “On the back driver’s side floorboard, a pair of black cargo pants were located, the pants appeared consistent with the pants the suspect was wearing in the Maverick gas station video.”
Officers then began canvasing Sow’s residence in Edwards and were eventually able to catch up with Sow and arrest him on Sunday. He remains in custody on a $100,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 3.
It’s not Sow’s first case of criminal behavior in Eagle County — earlier this year he pled guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge and was sentenced to 114 days in jail, for which he received credit for time served. He also pled guilty to the class-5 felony of criminal mischief, for which he was sentenced to 106 days in jail, also receiving credit for time served.
