UPDATE (Thursday, 10 a.m.): The city of Aspen said Wednesday night they believe they had identified and cleared the person.
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DENVER – Authorities in Aspen said Wednesday afternoon they were looking to identify a person of interest they said was described as behaving suspiciously behind an Aspen business Tuesday morning as they continue their investigation into who tampered with the natural gas system in the area.
“Because of the ongoing joint Aspen Police Department / Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office investigation into recent tampering with the natural gas system, we are interested in identifying this person,” the two agencies said in a joint news release.
The authorities said that a person called the police department after seeing the man behaving “suspiciously” behind the business around 11 a.m. Tuesday. The caller was only able to take one photograph of the man from behind.
The person of interest is described as a white man in his mid-40s to early 50s, about 5-foot-7 inches tall, with gray hair and blue eyes. The departments said he was described as muscular and at least 160 pounds. The man was clean shaven and could have acne scarring, the agencies said.
The man was carrying a. computer bag and was described as wearing “high end” clothing, the authorities said.
The agencies are asking anyone who can identify the person or who has information about the natural gas vandalism to call 970-920-5400.
Black Hills Energy said Wednesday afternoon they had successfully restored natural gas service to 85% of the roughly 3,500 customers who had been without gas for days after three sites were tampered with over the weekend.
