A local man took a dip in the Blue River recently, while attempting to run away from a Summit County Sheriff’s Office deputy on the scene of some neighborhood vandalism.

The deputy arrived at the scene, responding to an activated alarm, to find the man crouching behind a stone pillar near a private home in Summit County. When the man saw the deputy he took off running. The Blue River slowed him down, though, when he tried to cross it and fell face first into the water.

Cold, wet and caught the man climbed out of the river and complied with the deputy’s orders to lie down. The man, who seemed to have been drinking, told the deputy he was “just checking on my friend’s house,” according to a report from the sheriff’s office.

When backup arrived the deputy put the man in his patrol car and went to investigate the house where the alarm was activated. Footprints in the snow that matched the man’s shoes led up the driveway to the front door of the residence. There was a boot print on a window to the right of the front door that also looked suspiciously like the same shoes the man was wearing. The window to the left of the front door was broken and looked like it had been kicked in.

Back at the Summit County Justice Center the man told deputies he was creeping around his neighbor’s home in the middle of the night because he’d heard a “shrieking” noise coming from a house nearby while watching a movie in his own home. The man said he’d gone to make sure everything was OK, when he saw the smashed window, got scared and walked away.

He said when he saw the deputy’s headlights he didn’t realize he was a police officer and ran away in fear.

The man “said there was no reason why his boot print was on the window adjacent to the door,” the sheriff’s office report said.

Deputies back at the scene later found a pick-up truck parked a block from the vandalized residence and discovered that a rock had been thrown through the window of another house nearby. There were footprints at the second house that matched those at the first.

The man, who had had his “driving privileges revoked” said he drove his father’s truck to the first residence after hearing the shrieking noises to make sure everything was all right. He denied going to any other residences in the neighborhood.

When deputies asked him if he knew his driver’s license was revoked he replied, “Yeah, but I took the Frontage Road.”

The man was charged with two counts of criminal mischief, first degree criminal trespass, driving while license revoked and obstruction of a peace officer.

The last week of October was a pretty bad one for this one guy when Summit County Sheriff’s Office deputies caught him driving drunk – and then noticed he was violating bond conditions.

After a few too many drinks, the man got behind the wheel and drove past barricades on the Dillon Dam Road, past a Denver Water security officer and into a rock.

Deputies arrived and arrested the man who smelled like booze and had “bloodshot eyes, slurred speech (and) poor balance” according to a sheriff’s office report. A breath test showed his blood alcohol level was .330.

Upon booking him after the arrest deputies discovered the drunk driver was also on bond conditions. One of the conditions stated that he was not to “possess or consume alcoholic beverages or controlled substances.”

He was charged with violation of bond conditions and held in custody.

SDN reporter Caddie Nath can be contacted at (970) 668-4628 or at cnath@summitdaily.com.