Alleged robber of El Jebel liquor store facing five charges
The Aspen Times
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An El Jebel man accused of robbing a midvalley liquor store on March 10 was advised in Eagle County District Court on Wednesday that he is facing five charges over the incident.
Rodrigo Ivan Aguilar was charged with three felonies: aggravated robbery with possession of a real or simulated weapon, menacing with possession of a real or simulated weapon and attempted first-degree assault. He also was charged with two misdemeanors: violation of a protection order and theft of between $300 and $750.
Aguilar was 17 at the time of the alleged robbery of the liquor store at El Jebel Plaza. He has since turned 18.
He is being charged as an adult. However, in an Aug. 27 hearing to determine whether the case could be transferred out of juvenile court, there was a stipulation that he would be sentenced to the Youthful Offenders System rather than the Department of Corrections, according to Jill Sarmo, a spokeswoman for the 5th Judicial District Attorney’s Office. The advantage of prosecuting the case in the adult criminal-justice system is that it provides implications if Aguilar gets into trouble later in his life, she said.
Aguilar is suspected of entering El Jebel Liquors at 5 p.m. on March 10 armed with a handgun and a knife, according to the arrest report by the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office. He is accused of ordering the female clerk to empty the cash drawer into a plastic bag and fleeing on foot with about $400, according to the report.
A surveillance camera at the plaza captured the alleged robber fleeing the store. The images were published in local newspapers, and sheriff’s investigators received an anonymous tip that Aguilar was the alleged robber. He was contacted at his home in the El Jebel area three days after the robbery and was questioned and arrested.
He is facing the first-degree attempted assault charge because prosecutors say he pulled the trigger during the robbery, according to Deputy District Attorney Joe Kirwan. No shot was fired during the incident.
Aguilar is facing the charge of violating a protection order because he was not allowed to possess a weapon due to the terms of a prior juvenile criminal case in Pitkin County, according to Kirwan.
Aguilar waived further advisement of the charges and is scheduled to appear in court Oct. 1 for a disposition or scheduling of a trial.
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