Aspen area woman accused of ski theft — again
Apparently Jillian White really likes Blizzard Black Pearl skis.
The 61-year-old Woody Creek resident was arrested in January and charged with stealing a pair of the skis from a rack at the base of Aspen Mountain in December and attempting to sell them at a local used sports equipment store.
Then last week, White was charged with stealing another pair of the exact same women’s skis from a rack at Aspen Highlands in December as well as stealing a pair of goggles from a Highlands retail store, according to an affidavit filed Wednesday by Aspen police in Pitkin County Court.
White has been arrested six times in the past decade for stealing different items from Aspen businesses. A year ago, she was sentenced to 21 days in jail and two years of probation for stealing a $4,100 pullover in 2013 from Bruno Cucinelli in downtown Aspen.
Police tracked her down for that crime after a Bruno Cucinelli employee followed White to her Porsche SUV and reported her license number to police.
The latest incident was reported to police Dec. 10 by a 30-year-old woman who reported leaving her purple and blue Blizzard skis outside Aspen Expeditions, located in the Aspen Highlands mall area, according to the affidavit.
The woman was later able to view video surveillance from that day and forwarded two grainy photos to police of a woman dressed in a white jacket, black pants and a black helmet grabbing the skis, going into the Highlands base building with them and leaving that building without them, the affidavit states.
The victim also told police that an Aspen Expeditions employee had seen a picture of White in the newspaper and was nearly certain White had stolen a pair of goggles from the store the same day the skis were stolen, according to the affidavit.
An Aspen police officer showed the Aspen Expeditions employee a photo lineup — which specifically didn’t include the picture of White from the newspaper — and the employee identified White as the goggles thief, the affidavit states.
“She’s the one who did it,” the employee told police, according to the affidavit. “She was wearing a white top and black pants.”
Based on the description of her clothing and the fact that the two thefts occurred at roughly the same time, White was charged with two counts of theft, according to Aspen police Sgt. Terry Leitch and the affidavit.
White was arrested for allegedly stealing patio furniture in 2006, two pairs of sunglasses valued at $434 from the Sunglass Hut in Aspen in June 2008 and two cans of coconut water from Roxy’s Market at the Aspen Business Center in May 2013, according to police reports.
In January 2015, White was caught on surveillance video at the St. Regis Hotel in Aspen stealing a black faux-leather coat, while just months later she was arrested in New York City on suspicion of stealing a Givenchy purse, according to former prosecutor Andrea Bryan and police reports.
“There’s very significant kleptomania she’s dealing with,” Bryan said before White’s sentencing a year ago.
White was issued a summons to appear in court for the latest theft charges and not arrested again because she is out of town, Leitch said.
