Following an apology and attempted return of 200 small town newspapers in a garbage bag, a Ridgway man has been cited on suspicion of petty theft.

The Ouray County Sheriff’s Office cited 41-year-old Paul Choate for stealing copies of the Ouray County Plaindealer newspaper from racks throughout the small town and the adjacent town, Ridgway, on Thursday following the reporting of a alleged rape involving the family of the police chief.

Choate admitted to stealing the newspapers and returned them to the Plaindealer office Thursday night with an apology, according to an update from the publication.

The story that caused such a stir appeared above the fold on page one of Thursday’s edition. It’s an 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.

Following the theft, the paper stood strong on their reporting, printing an additional 250 copies.

The second prints were not stolen.

Investigators from the sheriff’s office and the Ridgway Marshal’s Office were able to identify the suspect through security camera footage.

The sheriff’s office noted that Choate is “not a member or relative of local law enforcement and not associated with the defendants in the recent reported sexual assault,” in a press release on Friday.

Choate, owner of Ridgway’s Kate’s Place restaurant, admitted that he stole the papers because of the front page story, according to the Plaindealer.

“Whoever did this does not understand that stealing newspapers doesn’t stop a story,” Erin McIntyre and Mike Wiggins, who publish the paper, wrote in an email to readers following the theft on Thursday.