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Justice served on a hot plate – again

Joel Stonington

Aspen, CO ColoradoASPEN Maybe Jared Hidden should eat at home.Aspen police arrested Hidden, a 28-year-old Aspen man, three weeks ago in the middle of dinner at Matsuhisa, a downtown sushi restaurant. He was allegedly wearing a stolen Rolex at the time.On Monday, police arrested Hidden at Range Restaurant on theft charges, a day after he allegedly attempted to board Ajax Express with his roommate’s ski pass. He reportedly needed his roommate’s pass because he had lost his pass and his job with the Aspen Skiing Co. after the arrest at Matsuhisa.”He knew he had been fired and that his pass was no good,” said Aspen Police Sgt. Steve Smith.Police stated that Hidden was stopped at the bottom of the Silver Queen gondola trying to get on with a female’s pass and claimed he had grabbed the wrong pass by accident. When police contacted his roommate, she said she had not given him permission to use the pass and that she had asked him to leave the residence.They found out Hidden would be working at the Range Restaurant around 5 p.m. Police arrived, arrested Hidden and later released him with a county court date of Feb. 5. Fines for stealing a pass are heavy because the Aspen Skiing Co. worked with Aspen for a city ordinance, Smith said. Normally, a stolen pass would warrant a municipal court appearance, but with Hidden’s felony theft case in 9th District Court, the district attorney’s office will prosecute both cases. Hidden refused to comment on either case.Joel Stonington’s e-mail address is jstonington@aspentimes.com