A small newspaper in Ouray County is not backing down from reporting the news of an alleged rape involving the family of the police chief, even though it appears someone tried to stop them.

Thursday, almost all of the Ouray County Plaindealer hard-copy newspapers that were for sale in newspaper racks throughout Ouray and Ridgway disappeared.

Co-Publisher and Co-Editor Erin McIntyre said that though 200 newspapers were stolen, they printed more.

“We were able to get another press run done last night and replaced the stolen papers in the racks around Ridgway and Ouray this morning,” McIntyre said. 

There is video surveillance that law enforcement is “able to review to try to determine who did this,” she said, and that a person has said they will turn themselves in for the crime Friday.

“At this point we have no reason to believe that any of the defendants in the case or their families, or the Ouray Police Department are involved in the theft of our newspapers,” McIntyre wrote in an email. 

The paper posted an update late Friday saying the suspect “returned a garbage bag full of newspapers to the Plaindealer office on Thursday night and confessed to taking them.” 

Editors declined to identify the suspect, saying “Investigators have asked us not to give more details until their work is completely finished.” 

“The suspect in this matter is unrelated to any of the defendants in the alleged sex assault case, and unrelated to any law enforcement, including the Ouray Police chief and his department,” according to the Plaindealer.

The story that caused such a stir appeared above the fold on page one of Thursday’s edition. It’s a detailed account of an alleged sexual assault that occurred last May. A 17-year-old girl, who is now 18 according to the newspaper, told investigators she was repeatedly raped at the Ouray Police chief’s home during a night of partying with the chief’s stepson and two other suspects while adults were sleeping, according to court records obtained by the Plaindealer.

McIntyre and Mike Wiggins, who publish the paper, wrote readers an email Thursday that they believe the newspapers were stolen:

“All of our newspaper racks in Ouray and all but one rack in Ridgway were hit by a thief who stole all the newspapers. From what we know so far, it seems this person put in four quarters and took all the papers at these racks. It’s pretty clear that someone didn’t want the community to read the news this week. …

Whoever did this does not understand that stealing newspapers doesn’t stop a story.

We’re not going to stop doing our job, which is to shine light on important issues in our community and keep you informed. This person is not going to shut down the freedom of the press by stealing a few hundred newspapers. Our community won’t stand for it and we won’t, either.

“Interference with lawful distribution of newspapers,” is a civil infraction punishable by a fine of up to $5,000, depending on the number of copies stolen, according to the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition.

The original story did not publish the mugshots of the three suspects, but the online version, which the Plaindealer published later, did. Like the Plaindealer, The Denver Gazette does not publish the name of rape victims without permission. 

The chief’s stepson, who was 17 at the time, 18-year-old Gabriel Trujillo and Ashton Whittingon, also 18, were arrested on sexual assault charges on a warrant from The Colorado Bureau of Investigation in December, the CBI confirmed.

The CBI is investigating the case as an outside agency because Ouray Police Chief Jeff Wood and the Ouray County Sheriff have a work history together, the Plaindealer reported.

The newspaper theft is a different story.

The Ouray County Sheriffs office assigned its lone investigator to look into “newspaper thefts across the county,” said Sgt. Derrick Linnell, which he told The Denver Gazette “involved one person or one group of people.” 

The three teen suspects told investigators that the sex was consensual, according to the Plaindealer. They have all posted bail and have separate court hearings in February.

An attempt for response from Ouray Police Chief Jeff Wood went unanswered by deadline. 

McIntyre said that the paper has received $2,000 in donations since the thefts were made public. 

“We are overwhelmed by your generous support,” according to an update posted Friday. “The papers are back out there, again, and we have received an incredible amount of interest in the story about the papers being stolen.

“We now know the community cares just as much as we do about ensuring the freedom of the press is alive and well, and they support our ability to exercise the First Amendment and keep them informed.”