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Pot-theft suspect arrested in Mo.

Jason Auslander
The Aspen Times
Hayden May

The 21-year-old man police say robbed an Aspen marijuana dispensary with a hammer Tuesday was arrested Wednesday night outside St. Louis, according to a statement from the Aspen Police Department.

Hayden May was last seen about 3 a.m. Wednesday near Difficult Campground east of Aspen, according to an earlier police statement. Officials from the Police Department had been indirectly communicating with May through his family and expected him to turn himself in by 5 p.m. Wednesday.

That, however, did not happen.



Instead, at about 5:45 p.m., police released his name, description, the kind of car he was driving and a photo showing the Georgia native brandishing a hammer during the robbery of Stash marijuana dispensary near City Market on Tuesday.

Then, about three hours later, police released a second statement saying he’d been arrested at 7 p.m. by St. Louis County deputies on Interstate 70 outside the city of St. Louis.




Garrett Patrick, owner of Stash marijuana dispensary, told The Aspen Times on Tuesday that May entered his business near City Market about 12:30 p.m. and waited for the other customers to leave. He then pulled out a hammer, apologized for being “desperate” and took jars of marijuana from behind the counter worth about $11,000, Patrick and police said.

Employees at the store were friends with May and recognized him, Patrick said. One employee tried to stop him from leaving, then chased him for a few minutes, he said. Patrick said May’s brother used to work for him and that he suspects May might have been the person who robbed his business when it was located at the Aspen Business Center.

Police said May is from Georgia, though Patrick described him as a local and said he’d been living and working in Aspen until recently. May worked at a local Aspen smokeshop until last week, when he was accused of stealing bongs, Patrick said Tuesday.

May is charged with aggravated robbery of a controlled substance, theft and harassment.

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