Rizzuto turns himself in at jail

Anthony Rizzuto, a local teen-ager facing charges of armed robbery and burglary, turned himself in to the Garfield County Jail late Sunday and is expected to be advised of new charges this week.

And according to police, the circumstances behind new charges against Rizzuto include accusations that veiled threats were made against a witness who helped police solve a string of burglaries and armed robberies last year.

Rizzuto, 19, was being sought by police for allegedly violating the conditions of his bond. His alleged crimes were part of a multilayered crime spree involving a dozen local teens last year.

According to police, Rizzuto was at a huge party the night of March 4 in Brush Creek Village, where he encountered three other defendants in what a local judge once termed “this constellation of cases” that arose from the crime spree in Aspen and Snowmass Village.

Rizzuto had been released from jail on a $100,000 bond on Dec. 21, 1999, after being charged with burglarizing a home on Twining Flats and helping rob the Aspen Alps Condominiums office at gunpoint. A condition of his bond ordered that he have “no contact” with the other defendants in the cases.

Police investigator Jim Crowley said he talked with another teen who was at the party. That teen, who Crowley said is “scared to death of these guys,” reported seeing Rizzuto hanging out with Shea Treadwell Estes, Thomas Colver and Moses Greengrass – all of whom have been charged in connection with the crime spree.

Crowley said altogether he talked to three people who were at the party, two of whom were juveniles and were not identified by police. The Aspen Times has chosen to keep the third teen’s identity confidential due to the teen-ager’s fears of reprisals.

According to Crowley’s affidavit in support of the warrant for Rizzuto’s arrest, both Greengrass and Estes approached a teen at the party who was known to have cooperated with the police investigation into the crime spree back in September 1999.

According to reports, Estes allegedly told the teen, “You could die tomorrow and I would throw a party. I hope you burn.”

Greengrass, according to the affidavit, told the teen, “I can’t believe you did this. I can’t believe that you talked to the police. I don’t even want to talk to you.” Neither Rizzuto nor Colver were reported as having said anything to the teen.

The investigator said the house where the party took place is being rented from its owner, Alpine Bank of Aspen, by a bank employee, David Cramer. According to the affidavit, Cramer acknowledged that he held the party and that he invited Greengrass and Rizzuto, whom Cramer said he has known for a year and a half.

Cramer reportedly did not see Colver and Estes at the party.

Crowley said police are still trying to find out who supplied the alcohol that was consumed at the party. The affidavit contained no reference to alcohol or drug use at the party.

According to Crowley, similar charges are not being pursued against Colver or Estes, because their bond agreements do not contain the “no contact” provisions that are written into Rizzuto’s bond.

Colver faces charges of possession of drugs and taking part in the Aspen Alps robbery on Aug. 6, 1999. Estes is accused of being an accomplice in a robbery of The Village Market in Snowmass on Aug. 19, 1999.

Greengrass has admitted to taking part in armed robberies at The Village Market and Clark’s Market in Aspen, and is serving a 12-year prison term.

Rizzuto is due in court again on April 3 to enter a plea to the robbery and burglary charges. It was not known Monday evening whether he would appear in court this week on the charge of violating the conditions of his bond.