One of the natural gas stations in unincorporated Pitkin County that was sabotaged Dec. 26. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
In more than two decades with the Aspen Police Department, Sgt. Rick Magnuson has been involved in only two other cases that rise to the level of the gas line sabotage that occurred here the day after Christmas and left thousands without heat.
The first was the string of violent armed robberies committed by a group of Aspen teenagers in 1999, while the second was the case of Aspen native Jim Blanning, who left four gasoline bombs disguised as holiday gifts around town on Dec. 31, 2008 before killing himself.