Just because it is off-season and Aspen’s streets are empty, it doesn’t mean you can openly pee in them.
Police say they caught a 21-year-old man urinating on Hyman Avenue outside of Eric’s Bar shortly after closing time early Saturday morning. The man let a stream of urine fly, according to a police report, while “facing the street clearly visible to pedestrians and anyone passing in a vehicle.”
He was arrested for urinating in public, a municipal charge.
In other local crime news:
— A Maine man allegedly hot-boxed his truck Saturday night while driving down Durant Avenue.
Police say they pulled him over for running a stop sign at the Hunter-Durant intersection, and then smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle. As the 30-year-old searched for his insurance and registration, police say, he revealed a prescription bottle with a green leafy substance in it that appeared to be pot.
A subsequent search of the Dodge Durango allegedly turned up burnt dope in the ash tray, joint rolling papers on the floor, and buds inside a rear door handle.
The man was arrested for possession of marijuana and paraphernalia.
— A 37-year-old Blue Lake man who allegedly threw a bottle of water at a Willits General Store clerk in Basalt Friday is facing a misdemeanor assault charge.
Police say Armando Vidaca slammed a bottle of water on the counter at the store. When the clerk asked him not to do that, Vidaca allegedly began cursing at her in Spanish. She said she was going to call the police, but when she picked up the phone the customer allegedly threw the bottle at her, nailing her in the head.
— A teenage skater was found passed out and, like, super drunk at the skateboard park in Basalt around 2 p.m. Wednesday. He was treated at Valley View Hospital and cited for underage drinking. Police believe he was given the alcohol by a 21-year-old suspect, but have not yet arrested him.
— A Honda four-wheeler was reported stolen from the construction site of the new Sheer Bliss chairlift on Snowmass Mountain on Wednesday. The project manager found it later that day. Apparently someone had taken the ATV for a joyride and abandoned it.
— Somebody driving a pickup truck with California plates reportedly charged some work on his car at Big-O-Tires to a business account in Basalt last month. The business said they don’t have a pickup truck with California plates. Police are investigating the incident as a theft.
— A 23-year-old man was arrested for trespassing at the Belly Up Aspen late Saturday night after an Eek-a-Mouse reggae show. Bouncers repeatedly asked him to leave, according to a police report. The man said he was trying to find his girlfriend’s purse, which she left there when she was kicked out earlier.
— Call it the case of the phantom dogs that barked in the night. A Basalt woman reported to police this week that she had heard two golden retrievers barking on her porch. A responding community safety officer went to the neighbor’s house where the woman said the dogs came from, and found just one dog that didn’t match her description.
— Basalt police pulled over a blue Sedan Friday night for driving without license plates and found the 19-year-old driver had been drinking alcohol. He said he had drunk one beer. He was charged with underage drinking, but not drunk driving.
— The cash register at the Aspenalt Hotel in Basalt was reportedly burgled this week. No arrests have yet been made.
— Two cars had their windows broken out on Basalt Avenue overnight between Sunday and Monday.
— Seven alleged drunk drivers were arrested in the upper valley this week:
At 2:15 p.m. Saturday, Enrique Floes, 25, was arrested in El Jebel for allegedly driving drunk, without a license and with excessive alcohol content in his system.
Just after midnight Saturday, Basalt police say, Christopher Pecket, 27, was swerving on Two Rivers Road. When they pulled him over they say he failed a roadside test. He was charged with drunk driving, driving with excessive alcohol content and weaving.
Near 2 a.m. Saturday, Aspen police pulled over Dorian Vazquez, 25, for driving with expired plates. They say he was also driving drunk and with no driver’s license.
Police pulled over Cristian Vilche, 24, after allegedly observing him drive very slowly — 17 miles per hour — and crossing into oncoming traffic on Two Rivers Road in Basalt. He allegedly failed a roadside sobriety test and was arrested for drunk driving, driving without a license and driving with an excessive alcohol content in his system.
Responding to report of a driver “swerving all over” Brush Creek Road on Sunday afternoon, a Pitkin County Sheriff’s deputy arrested Michael Gauthier for driving drunk. The 34-year-old also had a warrant for his arrest stemming from an earlier DUI arrest, and was driving without a license.
A Basalt man was arrested for driving drunk Monday night after he allegedly ran a stop sign at Two Rivers and Midland Avenues. Sergio Alvarado-Lopez, 38, refused a roadside sobriety test and was additionally charged with driving with excessive alcohol content in his system and failing to stop at a stop sign.
At almost 1 a.m. Tuesday, police say, a pickup truck drove through two construction barrels on Highway 82 near Truscott. When they pulled him over, Joseph Rains, 32, allegedly failed a roadside sobriety test.
— Compiled by Andrew Travers
