Steamboat Pilot & Today

A 20-year-old man was arrested early Friday morning on suspicion of breaking into five vehicles parked downtown.

Clinton Bell Phillips of Oak Creek led police on a brief foot chase before being arrested on suspicion of first-degree criminal trespass, theft, criminal mischief and being a minor in possession of alcohol.

The items police think Phillips stole from the vehicles were of small value and included a CD, a CD case with 30 Spanish CDs and a pack of cigarettes, court documents show.

At about 1:30 a.m. Friday, Steamboat Springs police Officer Nate Morton spotted Phillips wearing all black and stumbling down Lincoln Avenue near 11th Street. Morton then circled the block and observed Phillips in a vehicle parked in an alley between 11th and 12th streets, a police report shows.

Morton saw the man run from the car, proceed up the stairs at 1125 Lincoln Ave. and jump off the deck into the alleyway. The man began running past Little Toots Park, where he fell and dropped something, the police report indicates. Phillips then crossed the bridge and ran toward the Bud Werner Memorial Library parking lot.

Another officer pulled up to the parking lot, forcing Phillips to run toward the Yampa River, where he fell again along the river's edge dropping another item and cutting his hand, according to the report.

Phillips got up and started running again along the river's edge until he fell in the river and was grabbed out of the water by a police officer, the report indicates.

After arresting Phillips, the police drove around the downtown area looking for other vehicles that may have been burglarized.

The police found a gray van with its sliding door open in the Nordic Lodge parking lot. Police contacted the owner, who said a CD was missing. It was the same CD police found in the library parking lot.

The owner then asked a friend to check his vehicle, who said his CD case containing 30 CDs was missing, court documents show.

The police also found two other vehicles in the parking lot that appear to have been broken into. A pack of cigarettes was reported stolen from a white Chevy blazer, and the owner said his passenger seat was damaged.

A faceplate from a radio/CD player was removed from the vehicle parked next to the blazer, but nothing was taken from the vehicle, the owner said.

Steamboat Springs police Capt. Rick Crotz said more items thought to be stolen were found on Phillips than what was reported missing. None of the vehicles was locked, Crotz said.

Police also found in Phillips' possession two other CD cases with CDs, a bottle of prescription medication with a woman's name on the bottle and several lighters, according to court documents.

Phillips, who is on probation from Mesa County, is being held on $10,000 bond at the Routt County Jail.