Parker – Kyle Aronow lost a customer, a friend and his 10-year-old business in a September blaze, but he helped authorities catch a suspect in two of Parker’s four arson cases this year.
Patrick Stowbridge, 28, of Parker appeared in court last week on charges of setting Aronow’s business, Audio Creations, on fire Sept. 29. Fire investigators used the court appearance to arrest Stowbridge on charges from an unrelated fire that damaged three unoccupied homes Sept. 23.
Aronow said that the night his business burned, he ran into Stowbridge, a customer and friend, at the Tailgate Tavern in downtown Parker. They met some women and went back to the shop for a while.
Later that night, investigators believe, Stowbridge went back to the shop, broke in, stole stereo equipment and set a car inside ablaze to mask the crime.
The loss was valued at $150,000. Aronow said the business was not insured.
“I lost everything, including my business,” he said.
Aronow said that when he ran into Stowbridge a short time after the fire, “he was acting weird,” so Aronow told investigators that Stowbridge might have been involved.
Stowbridge was arrested Oct. 6 after stereo equipment and other items from the store were found in his car. He was charged with felony counts of arson, burglary and theft.
His arrest in that case helped fire investigators link him to an earlier fire on Bolton Circle, where a stolen car was hidden in the garage of a home under construction and set ablaze.
The fire damaged or destroyed three homes, causing an estimated $430,000 in damage. Stowbridge was charged with felony counts of arson, burglary and car theft, as well as misdemeanor theft.
Unspecified evidence in the burned car linked Stowbridge to the fire, said Deputy Cocha Heyden, a spokeswoman for the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.
“Just because someone sets a fire doesn’t mean they’ve destroyed the evidence” of their involvement, Heyden said.
The owner of the stolen car did not know Stowbridge, Heyden said.
Stowbridge is free on bail and could not be located for comment Monday. He had no prior arrests.
Staff writer Joey Bunch can be reached at 303-820-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com.
![[prison 19] Caption: This is Cellhouse 1, Pod A, from ground level inside the Sterling Correctional Facility which is located outside of Sterling, Colorado Thursday afternoon. Photographer: LEW SHERMAN Title: FREELANCE Credit: SPECIAL TO THE POST City: Sterling State: CO Country: USA Date: 19990617 ObjectName: prison 19 Keyword: PUBDATE____1999_06_22](/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/20151207__denverpostp1.jpg?w=538 "20151207__denverpost~p1.jpg")
