Steamboat Pilot & Today

Three Steamboat Springs High School students were arrested Wednesday night by police officers who say they caught the teens burglarizing a car parked in an underground garage.

Police Capt. Joel Rae said two boys, 15 and 17, and one girl, 17, were arrested at 10:13 p.m. after they were stopped on Mount Werner Circle near Ski Time Square. Rae said he could not release the names of the teens because they are minors.

According to the police report, Jeremiah Haussen of Steamboat Springs went to his 1992 Honda Civic to retrieve a tool and noticed the car door was open.

The car was parked in the Sheraton Steamboat Resort Hotel's underground lot in the 2200 block of Village Inn Court.

Haussen told police he heard skateboarders coming down a different row of cars and noticed skateboard tracks from a nearby puddle of water leading away from his car. Two skateboarders bolted when they saw him, Haussen told police.

Haussen said he jumped into his car, followed the skateboarders and watched them drive off in a gray Ford Probe.

Rae said Haussen went to the hotel security office and called police. A security officer found an image of a Ford Probe trying to drive under the parking lot security gate earlier that night. He later watched the teens enter the area.

Officers stopped the three teens driving on Mount Werner Circle and took them to the police department, where their parents were called. Officers reported recovering several CDs, DVDs and a skateboard that their investigation indicated came from Haussen's car.

Officers also reported finding a laptop computer in the Ford Probe that had been reported missing from the high school.

Rae said the three juveniles each face a first-degree criminal trespassing charge, which is a felony, and a felony theft charge if the District Attorney's Office decides to file them. The 17-year-old boy is facing an additional theft charge in connection with the stolen laptop.

Coincidentally, officers investigating Haussens' theft complaint found a missing 1995 Jeep Wrangler in the same underground parking lot where the alleged theft of Haussens' belongings occurred.

The Jeep was reported stolen last week from Walton Village Apartments. Rae said the Jeep was returned to its owner, though the case is under investigation.

Rae said officers were trying to determine whether the three teens were involved in the theft of the Jeep.

-- To reach Alexis DeLaCruz, call 871-4234 or e-mail adelacruz@steamboatpilot.com