News in Brief
ASPEN ” Two young men, whose names are being withheld since they were not charged with a crime, accidentally set fire to the vegetation behind the Aspen post office during the weekend.
The fire reportedly began when the young men disposed of cigarette butts by throwing them onto the ground, according to Aspen Police Detective Chris Womack.
The fire burned a swath of land about 15 feet wide, Womack said. The young men stayed to put the fire out.
ASPEN ” Silt resident Shane Strong was charged with disorderly conduct on Saturday after an incident at Eric’s Bar in downtown Aspen.
When the waitress gave Strong his check, he alllegedly suggested to her that he instead pay her $2 to perform a sexual act, according to Aspen Police Detective Chris Womack
After Strong allegedly refused to leave, the bouncer attempted to escort Strong out of the bar and up the stairs, said Womack. In the process, they both reportedly tumbled down the stairs and Strong sustained a cut on his chin.
ASPEN ” Aspen police officers spent much of Friday night sorting out a fight between two brothers from Snowmass Village, a Chicago man visiting Aspen for a wedding, and a “man in a green shirt.”
On Friday night, officers received a call about a fight in an alley behind Kemo Sabe in downtown Aspen. The officers found two men in the alley, and they chased them north on Galena, apprehending them across from the Regal Watering Hole, according to Womack.
The two men told police they were brothers from Snowmass. One reportedly had cuts and bruises on his face. Neither wanted to cooperate with the police, said Womack.
Witnesses told responding officers that the brothers had been fighting with a guy in a green shirt. Officers surmised that the man in the green shirt was the victim. Since the victim wasn’t present to file charges, they let the brothers go, said Womack.
Later that night, polikce received a call from Aspen Valley Hospital telling them that a man from the fight had come in.
The injured man turned out to be not the man in the green shirt, but a fourth man who explained he was part of a wedding party from Chicago, according to Womack. He reportedly told officers that the Snowmass brothers were being inappropriate with several of the women in the wedding party he was with, so he asked them to back off.
At that point, one of the brothers allegedly sucker-punched the Chicagoan.
The Chicagoan reportedly went to the hospital because he bit his tongue when he was punched, and a friend who was a nurse believed he should seek medical care. He expressed concern about the fact that he was scheduled to give a toast at the wedding the following morning, said Womack.
While officers were still at the hospital, a man with a black eye ” and a green shirt ” arrived to seek medical help, said Womack.
However, the man, who was from Aspen, reportedly denied being at the Regal Watering Hole and instead told officers an inconsistent story about being hit on Main Street, according to Womack.
In the end, no one was charged with a crime.
