Suspect ID’ed in theft of Ouray, Colorado newspapers reporting alleged rape at police chief’s home
Police have identified a suspect in the theft of hundreds of copies of a small-town Colorado newspaper carried out the same day it published a story about a rape reported at the home of the local police chief.
An estimated 200 copies of the Ouray County Plaindealer were stolen from different locations around Ouray, a tourist town about 300 miles southwest of Denver, sometime Thursday morning, the newspaper reported.
The papers were returned, the weekly newspaper reported in a story published on its website Friday afternoon.
“An individual returned a garbage bag full of newspapers to the Plaindealer office on Thursday night and confessed to taking them,” the newspaper said in a statement emailed to its customers. “Investigators have asked us not to give more details until their work is completely finished.”
The emailed statement and news story said the suspect identified by police is not connected to any law enforcement, including the Ouray police department, or any of the defendants in the alleged sexual assault case.
The defendants include three young men, who were aged 19, 18 and 17 when the assault occurred, and attended the party in May at the home of Ouray Police Chief Jeff Wood.
One of the defendants is reported to be Wood’s stepson, Nate Dieffenderffer. All three have since made bail and been released from jail.
Drugs and alcohol were used during the party, according to court records, and Wood was reportedly asleep when the assault took place.
A girl later told investigators that she was raped at least three times after passing out at the party, and that she screamed and tried to fight back during the incident, reported the Plaindealer.
When the papers detailing the story were stolen Thursday, co-publisher Mike Wiggins vowed that another press run was imminent.
“If you hoped to silence or intimidate us, you failed miserably,” Wiggins wrote in a post to X.
“We decided to redistribute the paper, even though we also offered the top story for free online, to send a message,” the paper added in its Friday release.
“Anyone who attempts to interfere with our ability to distribute news is going to have their efforts backfire on them. We may be a small newspaper, but we’re going to stand up for ourselves.”
Wood did not immediately return a request for comment on the matter.
With News Wire Services
