Former bartender in Aspen is accused of forgery, back in jail
The Aspen Times
A Carbondale man, described in law enforcement records as a former local bartender, is being held in the Pitkin County Jail on accusations of a recent bond violation following his November arrest on suspicion of forgery and theft.
William Taylor Williamson, 32, was advised of the additional felony charges on Thursday in Pitkin County Court. Judge Gail Nichols set his new bond amount at $8,000.
On Nov. 2, he was arrested on charges of forgery, a felony, and theft under $100, a misdemeanor, following an Aspen Police Department investigation, court records show. Bond was set at $3,500; he arranged it and was released from the jail, according to the records.
In an arrest warrant affidavit, Aspen Detective Ian MacAyeal wrote that in late October an Aspen man reported to police that one of his checks had been stolen. The man said the stolen check had been forged and cashed at an Alpine Bank branch in Dillon for $956, the detective wrote.
MacAyeal’s investigation then turned to the bank’s fraud department where he obtained still photographs of Williamson allegedly cashing the check. A background check revealed that Williamson was on probation in Florida, the affidavit states.
Court records say that sometime before Nov. 18, Williamson was arrested in Denver on suspicion of forging and cashing a check and charged with a felony, a violation of the Pitkin County bond. He missed a scheduled Nov. 18 court appearance in Pitkin County and Nichols signed a warrant for this arrest, the documents indicate. His bond of $3,500 was forfeited, court records show.
Eventually, Williamson was released from the Denver jail and he was picked up on the new warrant earlier this week by an outside law enforcement agency, according to the local court. Therefore, in addition to the charges from the alleged November incident, he faces two additional felonies: violation of bail-bond conditions and failure to appear, the record shows.
