Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — A 30-year-old Hayden man faces felony charges for allegedly racking up a $2,000 telephone bill for a family who took him in by surfing an adult Web site.

Daniel Anthony Balazs faces felony charges of theft of a telecommunication service, first-degree criminal trespass and menacing, a misdemeanor.

Balazs was arrested Thursday by Hayden officers and booked into the Routt County Jail.

On Friday afternoon, Balazs appeared in Routt County Court. Judge James Garrecht set the man's bail at $5,000.

In court Balazs denied the allegations.

According to court records, Balazs moved in with a Hayden friend who lived with his parents on March 8.

During the evening of March 12 and the early morning hours of March 13, Balazs allegedly was caught using the family's computer, records show.

The homeowners claim they told Balazs he was not allowed to use their home computer to access the Internet that evening, records show.

Later in the month, Balazs was caught again using the computer and was asked to leave the home, records show.

After repeated requests, Balazs moved out of the residence March 15. The homeowners claim Balazs would not leave their home until they threatened to call police, records show.

On April 5, the couple received a long-distance telephone bill from AT&T totaling $2,248, records show.

The bill outlined 13 telephone calls that had been made to an adult Web site between 11:09 p.m. March 12 and 6:39 a.m. March 13, records show.

The cost of the calls total about $1,900, and the rest of the bill includes state and federal taxes, records show.

The couple claims Balazs initially said he was responsible and would pay for the telephone bill, records show. However, Balazs later told the family he would not pay for the bill because they could not prove he was responsible, records show.

Balazs claims his friend is responsible for the bill, records show.

Police were notified of the situation earlier this week when Balazs reported to police he was receiving harassing telephone calls from the family, records show.

After talking to the family about the situation, authorities got a warrant for Balazs' arrest Thursday morning.

Balazs' next appearance in court is scheduled for later this month.