Officers arrived to find a significant amount of damage to some businesses on the east side of the 600 block of Main Avenue. Eventually, a suspect was heard and found on the roof of Ken & Sue\u2019s restaurant at 636 Main Ave.<\/p>\n
Officers cornered the suspect in the courtyard behind Ken & Sue\u2019s, and he was taken into custody without incident, Shupe said. The man was possibly under the influence of narcotics and was hallucinating, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wasn\u2019t making sense,\u201d Shupe said.<\/p>\n
The suspect has been identified as Tyler Owens James. He was booked into the La Plata County Jail and is charged on suspicion of multiple counts of burglary and felony criminal mischief.<\/p>\n Investigators spent Tuesday trying to catalogue the extent of the destruction.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to take a while to get all the pieces put together,\u201d Shupe said.<\/p>\n So far, it appears four businesses were hit: Ken & Sue\u2019s, the Durango Rec Room, Cloud 9 Head Shop and a vacant space adjacent to the Balcony Bar & Grill, which used to be the location of the Summit bar.<\/p>\n All properties are owned by Jean-Pierre Bleger.<\/p>\n One of the unknowns, Shupe said, is why property was damaged but nothing was stolen. No items were on James when he was taken into custody, and officers said nothing appears to be missing.<\/p>\n Shupe said investigators are confident James acted alone.<\/p>\n \u201cIt appears to be pretty random,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Bleger, when contacted Tuesday, said the cost of damages were still being evaluated, but already, estimates could be as high as $200,000. A refrigerator was found thrown down the stairs, and a hot water tank was knocked over causing the ceiling to collapse.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve never seen a place ransacked like this. Everything is in pieces,\u201d Bleger said. \u201cIt\u2019s hard for me to believe it was only one guy who did that. The damage is so extensive.\u201d<\/p>\n In the former Summit bar space, the sink in the bathroom was torn out, which created flooding from the second floor to the first floor that lasted for three to four hours.<\/p>\n \u201cThe way the bathroom was broken, whoever did it, must have been high like you could not believe,\u201d he said. \u201c(It was done with) terrible force.\u201d<\/p>\n In just that space alone, Bleger said about 8,000 square feet was extensively damaged. The space was being remodeled to accommodate new businesses.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was nothing stolen that I know of, because there was nothing to steal,\u201d he said. \u201cWe were remodeling the place. (It was a) rampage.\u201d<\/p>\n A call to the Durango Rec Room was not returned. A staff member at Ken & Sue\u2019s said they were not able to comment as the restaurant was just opening around 5 p.m.<\/p>\n C.J. Burns, owner of Cloud 9 Head Shop, said five skylight windows were broken in his store, located below the Balcony. He said it appeared the suspect threw large boulders, as well as a metal grease trap, to break the windows.<\/p>\n As a result, the store\u2019s floors were also severely damaged and will likely need to be replaced, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cHe never made it in there (into the store),\u201d Burns said. \u201cI don\u2019t know what he was doing.\u201d<\/p>\n Shupe said the exact number of counts James could face is subject to change as investigators better understand the extent of damages.<\/p>\n James has a preliminary hearing scheduled for March 26. His bond was set at $10,000.<\/p>\n James is known to Durango police.<\/p>\n Shupe said, James travels a lot, and recently left the area, picking up charges in other parts of Colorado in December.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve dealt with him prior,\u201d Shupe said.<\/p>\n According to VineLink.com, he remained in custody at the La Plata County Jail as of 5 p.m. Tuesday.<\/p>\n