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Snowmass Village hotel maid charged with stealing cash from rooms

A Snowmass Village hotel maid was arrested Monday for felony theft after allegedly stealing nearly $6,000 in cash from hotel rooms last year, according to police.

Maura Claribel Lagos, 38, of Carbondale was identified as the alleged thief after she was caught on surveillance video using a City Market gift card in Carbondale that was reported stolen from a room at the Viceroy Hotel in September, according to an affidavit filed in District Court.

The owner of the City Market card also reported $20 was missing from the bottom of her suitcase after she stayed at the Viceroy between Sept. 9 and 11, the affidavit states. She learned the City Market card had been used Sept. 10, and Snowmass Village police obtained video showing Lagos using it, according to the affidavit.



An officer then showed the footage to the housekeeping director at the Viceroy, who identified Lagos as a housekeeper at the hotel. Lagos told police in November she found the card in the trash can of one of the rooms she cleaned, according to the affidavit.

Snowmass Village police also received three reports on Sept. 3 from Viceroy guests complaining of cash missing from their rooms. One woman reported $3,800 missing, while two men staying in different rooms said they were missing $600 and $500 in cash, the affidavit states.




Another hotel guest reported $1,000 missing from her room March 22, according to the affidavit.

All four guests said they had large amounts of cash in their rooms, but that only a portion was stolen.

The housekeeping director told police that access to the room is recorded, and that Lagos — who goes by “Claribel” — was the maid assigned to clean each of the rooms where money was stolen, the affidavit states.

Police attempted to get Lagos to come turn herself in during the months of their investigation, but finally issued an arrest warrant, said Snowmass Village Police Chief Brian Olson. She was arrested by Pitkin County sheriff’s deputies Monday, according to records.

The total missing from the rooms was $5,920, while the City Market card was valued at $197, according to the affidavit.

jauslander@aspentimes.com