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Two arrested in alleged armed burglary of home

Naomi Havlen
Aspen Times Staff Writer

Two men were arrested after a frantic woman called police Thursday to report a man with a gun in her Old Snowmass home following an alleged armed burglary that went wrong.

El Jebel resident Steven Elliott, 25, is charged with first-degree burglary, menacing and assault. Carbondale resident Zane Stahl, 20, is charged with accomplice to first-degree burglary, menacing and assault. Both men were being held in Pitkin County Jail Thursday night.

According to a press release from the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office, a “hysterical female” called 911 around 7 a.m. Thursday, saying a man with a gun was in her residence at 11000 Snowmass Creek Road. While sheriff’s deputies, Snowmass police officers and one Aspen police officer were en route, dispatch informed them that the break-in suspect had assaulted a man in the house.



The victim defended himself and injured the suspect by hitting him on the head, although police would not disclose what the suspect was hit with. The suspect allegedly left the scene in a black Chevrolet Blazer that had a second suspect in the passenger seat.

Around 7:30 a.m., police stopped a vehicle in the area of 1909 Snowmass Creek Road, and both suspects surrendered without incident. Basalt paramedics were dispatched to the scene to treat one of the suspects for “head lacerations.” The suspect was taken by sheriff’s deputies to Aspen Valley Hospital for additional treatment and then transported to jail.




According to sheriff’s investigator Ron Ryan, the house the suspect allegedly entered is a caretaker’s unit on the property – adjacent to the main home but not attached. Ryan said the owners of the property were not involved in the incident, although they were home at the time.

Ryan would not comment on whether the suspects had a gun when they were taken into custody.

When asked if Elliott or Stahl made any comments upon arrest, Ryan said, “statements were made, but we’re not releasing those statements at this time. The investigation is continuing.”

Ryan also would not comment on whether the suspects are somehow connected to the caretakers or the property owners.

“We don’t believe that this incident is part of a string of crimes,” Ryan said. “It’s an isolated incident, as far as I know.”

Elliott is being held in the Pitkin County Jail on $23,500 bond. Stahl’s bond has been set at $24,000.