Colorado Springs hairdresser exonerated after false arrests, accuser arrested for allegedly framing her

(COLORADO SPRINGS) — A Colorado Springs hairdresser found herself wrongfully arrested four times and spent time in jail for a crime she did not commit. Recently, her felony stalking and harassment charges were dismissed after one of her accusers was arrested for allegedly framing her in the crime.

In November 2022, Lisa Chase became entangled in a nightmarish legal battle as her ex-boyfriend, Landon Ross, and his new girlfriend, Kristin Eaton, accused her of sending them hundreds of threatening and offensive messages through a texting app called TextNow. Eaton now faces felony criminal charges for her alleged attempt to frame Chase through the app.

Chase spent more than a year denying any involvement in the incident before her charges were dismissed last month. She says that Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) investigators and prosecutors from the 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office (DA’s Office) mishandled her case, failing to take adequate measures to thoroughly investigate her innocence.

Both CSPD and the DA’s Office declined to comment, citing sealed records related to Chase’s investigation and prosecution.

Court documents and police reports obtained by FOX21 through Chase’s attorneys, along with a 12-page expert preliminary report by John San Agustin, Chase’s private investigator, revealed the troubling chain of events over the past year.

“It is in my opinion that the Colorado Springs Police Department failed miserably while investigating the multiple allegations against Ms. Chase,” San Agustin stated in the conclusion of his report.

In the span of 90 days, from November 2022 to January 2023, Chase was arrested four times, with two occurring while she was working as a hairdresser, as she was giving her client a haircut.

“It’s pretty awful when you haven’t gone through anything like that and you have no idea what’s going on,” said Chase, describing the confusion and shock she felt during her initial arrest. An experience that not only marked her first encounter with law enforcement but also resulted in her spending the night in a holding cell due to the absence of bail.

During her third arrest, which Chase describes as the worst one, officers arrived at her home, just two weeks after her second arrest.

This arrest led to her spending four nights at the El Paso County Detention Center. Chase says her experience in jail was traumatic. She recounts a challenging episode where she had to negotiate food in exchange for Tylenol to alleviate the pain from her sciatica since pain relievers weren’t easily accessible.

In an effort to prove her innocence, Chase and her current boyfriend installed cameras around her house and car in between her second and third arrest, “to be able to prove a timeline of where I’m at and what I’m doing, and that still didn’t work, obviously,” she explained.

In January 2023, during a police call that did not result in an arrest, the couple once again asserted that they were receiving aggressive texts from Chase. Responding to the complaint, an officer visited Chase’s workplace and dialed the number Eaton claimed to be the source of the texts. Chase’s phone, which was placed on a nearby countertop, did not ring. The officer concluded that there was no probable cause to arrest Chase and advised Ross and Eaton to block the number from which they were receiving messages.

Despite the officer’s recommendation, Ross and Eaton opted not to block the number. Their rationale was that they preferred to notify the police department if they received further contact through the number, anticipating that Chase might incriminate herself as the sender.

Chase said she and Ross shared a 20-year-long relationship which eventually concluded in the summer of 2022.

“You think somebody loves you and would still protect you even though we weren’t together. We ended things civilly, or so I thought, so I didn’t know where any of this came from,” said Chase who also said she had never met his new girlfriend at the time (Eaton) and still hasn’t to this day.

FOX21 reached out to both Ross and Eaton for comment multiple times, to which neither of them responded.

Police reports summarized in San Agustin’s report, detail Ross’ previous attempt to have Chase arrested, just one week before her first arrest. After the request was denied by a judge, he and Eaton then subsequently obtained a temporary restraining order (TRO) against her.

“The TRO became a mechanism for an arrest of Ms. Chase if she had continued to contact either Mr. Ross or Ms. Eaton,” San Agustin reported in his findings.

As the barrage of texts seemed to persist, the couple pressed forward with felony stalking and harassment charges along with violations of protection orders. With these charges, Chase was looking at a prison sentence, if convicted.

“I definitely became someone’s source of entertainment, and it became a game for someone. That’s how I feel,” said Chase.

Chase’s attorneys said that CSPD relied on statements made by Ross and Eaton, and screenshots they provided in making these arrests. They also say CSPD never obtained a search warrant for Ross, Eaton, or Chase’s phones.

Chase did mention that CSPD asked for her phone during the first arrest, and she didn’t hand it over because they indicated that it wouldn’t influence her arrest at that moment.

“Nowhere in the police reports did they ever exactly say, I know with certainty that this is in fact Ms. Chase. So to have all this go on speculation was a shock to us.,” said Mike Allen, the criminal defense attorney representing Chase.

During another call made to law enforcement that led to Chase’s third arrest, the responding officer reported an incident where, during an interview with Ross and Eaton, Ross allegedly received a text message from the TextNow number stating, “You are such a c*** Landon.” The officer emphasized that both individuals were seated, and the message could not have been sent by either of them. The officer’s affidavit detailed the rationale for not attempting to obtain any device, stating that any electronic device could send these text messages.

“I was never able to tell my story of what was going on. It was just always, come on, arrest me, arrest me, arrest me, and I had no way out… I seriously felt hopeless, it kept happening over and over and over again,” Chase said with tears in her eyes.

But Chase hadn’t completely given up hope. Allen noted a point in the case where a jury trial seemed likely, and the possibility of Chase considering a plea deal arose. While confident in defending her at trial, Allen acknowledged the potential for jail time if a jury convicted her. However, Chase asserted her determination, stating, “I’ve never told myself I was going to plead guilty.”

In a crucial report, San Agustin, Chase’s private investigator conducted a CellBrite extraction on her phone revealing no evidence linking her to the alleged texts. Chase and her attorneys found relief in her reinforced innocence. However, prosecutors sought to exclude the report through a Shreck motion, challenging San Agustin’s credibility.

“The prosecutor completely disregarded the thought that maybe there was some evidence that exists that could prove either that Ms. Chase did it or didn’t do it,” said San Agustin, who was a former commander for the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office and is now well-known as an expert witness in Colorado, having testified for multiple judicial districts, including the 4th DA.

Ultimately, the judge ended up rejecting the motion.

“We knew how important his report was to get in front of a jury if we were going to get there to really show Ms. Chase’s innocence… If that Shreck motion would have went sideways this case could have taken a really bad turn,” said Ryan Dietrich, another attorney in the same firm on Chase’s case.

Subsequently, subpoenas filed by Chase’s attorneys and San Agustin, to TextNow revealed a connection between the texting number and Eaton’s friend.

In the days leading up to the trial, when Chase’s attorneys pressed the District Attorney to review the new evidence, they claimed insufficient time. Consequently, Chase chose to waive her right to a speedy trial, allowing the prosecutor time to examine the evidence.

Following this, the prosecution, upon reviewing the evidence, issued additional subpoenas revealing that the TextNow number was downloaded onto a computer used by Eaton, according to Chase’s attorneys. On Dec. 8, 2023, prosecutors dismissed Chase’s charges.

Yet, Chase didn’t feel like this was a win, “When you know you’ve been innocent the whole time and you’ve just fought your a** off and paid a lot of money to do it. Like, I don’t feel like celebrating when justice hasn’t fully been served yet,” said Chase.

As a mother, Chase now grapples with emotional trauma, experiencing fear whenever police drive by while she is at work. She expresses a loss of trust in the police and highlights the financial impact, with expenses exceeding $60,000 for legal fees, bonds, a private investigator, and loss of work in proving her innocence.

Her attorneys and San Agustin admitted that Chase’s financial resources played a crucial role in preventing her from being incarcerated for a crime she did not commit.

“That’s the danger of the system, we can’t afford for law enforcement not to gather facts, for prosecutors, not to pursue justice… A lot of people who have been charged with a crime don’t have the ability to hire people to look into what has been done to them,” said San Agustin.

In the conclusion of San Agustin’s report, he states, “The complete lack of an investigation and absence of any physical or digital evidence leaves no basis for the charges against Ms. Chase. Seizing Ms. Chase’s mobile devices and serving a search warrant on TextNow would have revealed that Ms. Chase did not send the alleged text messages.”

Eaton was arrested on Jan. 11, and charged with felony and misdemeanor charges, including Attempts to Influence a Public Servant, Criminal Impersonation, Falsely Reporting a Fake Crime, and False Information. Eaton posted a $10,000 bond and is scheduled for a plea hearing on Feb. 24.

Ross currently faces no charges.

“My biggest question is why,” Chase, believes there is more to the story than what has been revealed.

According to Chase’s attorneys, the listed victims in Eaton’s case do not include Chase. They are the Colorado Springs police officers whom Eaton allegedly lied to, consequently, Chase does not have access to the Victims Compensation Fund, which would have made her eligible for reimbursement for mental health expenses, lost wages, and other losses.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado.