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.
Area has seen an uptick in false claims since start of year
Unemployment fraud is on the rise in Aspen and local police are warning residents to be on the lookout for suspicious activity that might indicate identity theft.
Aspen police said in a news release Tuesday the fraud has been increasing since the summer, but hit a peak this month when between Jan. 1 and Jan. 15 the department received 16 complaints about false claims.
“According to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, the increase in reports of unemployment insurance fraud is likely connected to the expiration of CARES Act programs,” the release states.
Updated at 8:40 a.m. Thursday
As of Wednesday night, less than 100 homes remained without natural gas following a widespread outage that began Sunday night affecting 3,500 customers. More than 170 technicians with Black Hills Energy spent the last several days restoring service and relighting appliances.
Customers who were left with a white door tag were visited by a technician who could not contact the resident, and should call 888-890-5554 to schedule a return visit. If a technician left a red tag, it means a safety inspection identified a gas appliance emitting carbon monoxide which poses a safety hazard that needs to be addressed.
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