A candy vending machine on the second floor of the Wildwood Lodge in Snowmass Village was busted open last Tuesday night. Not for the cash and change inside, it turns out, but for the sugar-coated goodies therein. Its glass panel was broken open, and an unknown amount of its sweet booty was lifted, according to Snowmass Village police.
The damage totals approximately $800. Police are investigating.
In other local crime news:
— A woman who lives in an apartment three stories above the Fly Lounge nightclub called police after 1 a.m. on Friday, saying the music was so loud and its bass so strong that it was shaking her walls and keeping her awake. An investigating Aspen police officer found her floor was indeed vibrating and issued a summons to Fly manager Robert Schick for disturbing the peace.
—An aggressive Highway 82 driver found himself in the Pitkin County Jail facing four criminal charges on Sunday. Aspen police detective Chris Womack was driving down the highway in an unmarked police car at approximately 5:45 p.m. Sunday when he reportedly observed Mark Michalenko, 41, nearly rear-end a car he was attempting to pass. When Womack attempted to pull him over, Michalenko allegedly sped up and pulled into the county airport parking lot.
Michalenko had previously had his license revoked for habitual traffic offenses, according to his arrest report, and was placed under arrest for driving without a license. On the way to jail, Michalenko allegedly emanated a boozy odor, but refused to perform a sobriety test. He was booked on drunken driving, careless driving, and two suspended driving charges.
— Last weekend, upper valley authorities nabbed six other alleged drunk drivers. Basalt police arrested Terri Becker, Samuel Amaya, Kelly Nagel and Juan Gomez for failing roadside sobriety tests after various alleged traffic violations. Gomez’s passenger, Candelario Gomez, 20, was also charged with possessing alcohol as a minor.
Pitkin County sheriff’s deputies arrested two drivers on Highway 82: Eric Ogles and Felipe Carrasco-Rodriguez.
— More than $20,000 worth of handmade tile was reported stolen from the Base Village construction site in Snowmass Village on Tuesday. Authorities are unsure whether the boxes of tile were taken all at once or slowly over time. As the tile is not available in the United States, workers are concerned that replacing it might require several weeks and could slow the project.
— Two men were arrested for drinking beer in Bass Park at 11 a.m. on Tuesday. Police had received recent complaints of increased littering and drinking in the park. The men, Bennie Benally, 58, and Lyman Coldren, 46, were charged with drinking in public.
— Compiled By Andrew Travers
