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Crisis actor proves value of his job, arrested by Pitkin County deputies

A Front Range man in town last week to help police and others deal with people in crisis later demonstrated why those skills are important after he was arrested Friday night, according to law enforcement sources.

Garth Edwinson, 44, of Lakewood, allegedly drove drunk on Highway 82, refused to obey repeated orders from Pitkin County sheriff’s deputies and became both verbally and physically aggressive when he was taken to jail, according to deputies’ reports.

Edwinson referred to himself as “God” when asked his name at the jail and yelled into the face of a deputy, “Hail Satan, f— you, bitch,” according to the deputy’s report.



“I work for the government, you f—ing idiots,” Edwinson yelled after being placed in a jail cell. “You don’t know who the f— you’re messing with.”

Edwinson was in Aspen last week as a role player in several crisis-intervention training scenarios primarily for Aspen police officers, though others in the criminal justice community took part, as well, said Aspen Assistant Police Chief Bill Linn. The scenarios teach officers and others how to do deal with people who are in crisis because of drugs and alcohol, mental illness or other reasons, he said.




Edwinson first came to the attention of a sheriff’s deputy about 10:45 p.m. Friday when she saw him driving in both eastbound lanes of Highway 82, according to the report. The deputy turned her lights on to try to pull him over at the intersection of Owl Creek Road, but Edwinson kept driving until pulling into a parking space at the Inn at Aspen.

In the parking lot, the deputy identified herself and tried to hold Edwinson’s door shut to keep him inside the truck, but he used his shoulder to push the door open, the report states.

“I stepped back away from the truck and watched Edwinson stumble out of the truck,” Deputy Parichat Robles wrote in the report.

Edwinson, who was smoking a cigarette, smelled strongly of alcohol, had bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and a cigarette burn on his shorts, the report states. He declined to sit down and instead headed for the hotel’s entrance but was “extremely unsteady” on his feet.

“I asked Edwinson as I followed him to the double doors that led into the Inn at Aspen how much he had to drink,” the report states. “Edwinson responded, ‘A lot.’”

He walked through the first set of doors, but fell forward and hit his head on the wall when reaching for the second set of doors before falling head-first to the ground, according to the report. He then got up on his hands and knees and tried to stand up but couldn’t.

“Edwinson then began attempting to crawl away,” Robles wrote in the report. “I held Edwinson back from his shoulders and asked him to sit down.”

Edwinson ignored the deputy, however, and crawled through the second set of doors, the report states.

Another deputy arrived and both struggled to get Edwinson in handcuffs. Once that occurred, he was taken by ambulance to Aspen Valley Hospital and cleared to be taken to jail. During that time, he continued to deny he was driving and behaved belligerently on the drive to the jail, according to the report.

At the jail, Edwinson continued to yell and curse, call deputies names and bang on the cell door, the report states.

Edwinson was charged with DUI, resisting arrest, eluding and careless driving.

jauslander@aspentimes.com