Wild Crime Spree Suspects Met In Prison
EAGLE COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4)- Detectives in Eagle County are searching for a motive in a wild crime spree that ended with the arrest of two neighbors who met while in prison.
The whole thing started on Tuesday when an Audi was stolen from Glenwood Springs and driven over a dirt road that connects the Roaring Fork Valley near Carbondale to the Eagle Valley in Gypsum.
The joy ride started to slow down when the suspects, Tony Kelly and Robert Larsen, blew the front tire and seemingly tried to hide the evidence.
"It appeared it had been hidden in some tall sagebrush. It also appeared that the two suspects attempted to light the car on fire. Luckily their attempts had been unsuccessful. Had they been successful that could have resulted in a wild land fire," said Eagle County Sheriff's Office spokesman Jessie Mosher.
Investigators said Kelly and Larsen found another vehicle, this time a Jeep, to steal and crash. That's when the authorities finally caught up to them.
"They had found that the driver of the vehicle, Mr. Larsen, had been ejected from the vehicle and sustained some injuries," said Mosher.
That Jeep was stolen along with a small cache of weapons from a rural home.
Exactly why they went on the crime spree is still being investigated.
"It's hard to tell, both of them were very intoxicated at the time the incident occurred," said Mosher. "It's our understanding that they're neighbors in Glenwood Springs but they also spent some time in prison together."
Kelly and Larsen met while in prison in Rifle, lived near each other in Glenwood Springs and are spending time in the same jail in Eagle County.
Larsen is facing 17 charges including felony motor vehicle theft, felony burglary, felony arson, felony theft, felony trespass, felony possession of a firearm by a previous offender, felony habitual traffic offender, and other traffic offenses and misdemeanors. No bond has been set for Larsen at this time.
Kelly was transported to the Eagle County Detention Facility and was held on 8 counts including felony motor vehicle theft, felony burglary, felony possession of a weapon by a previous offender, felony arson, and violation of a protection order concerning no use of alcohol. He is held on a $25,000 bond.
