It could be that at least 58 seats will be empty when the Rockies take on the Diamondbacks at Coors Field after police seized the tickets from a scalper.
Charles Whitlock, 23, was sitting on a bench outside the stadium Wednesday with the tickets tucked beneath a newspaper. Police say he sold two of them to a pair of undercover cops. He asked $300 each for the two $100 tickets.
Whitlock probably won’t be using them, but the tickets won’t go back into circulation, either, said Denver Police Department spokesman Sonny Jackson. “They go out of play and into evidence until the case is adjudicated. (Besides), they have been sold already” to Whitlock.
Whitlock couldn’t be reached for comment.
Near Coors Field, it was easy Thursday to find suggestions on what should be done with the confiscated tickets.
“They should go to some great foundation for kids from indigent families that would never get to go to a playoff game,” said Aaron Tajachman, owner of a LoDo real estate business.
Scot Minshall, general manager of Jackson’s Sports Rock bar across the street from the ballpark, sees a business opportunity: “I think they should bring them over here, and we should give them away to the first 58 people who come through the doors.”
Rockies fan Kenny Lowenberg would like to see Whitlock’s tickets put back in circulation through the ticket office. If Whitlock is guilty of scalping the tickets, he was way out of line, Lowenberg added. “That is a lot of tickets. What a dunskie.”
Selling tickets for more than face value within the city limits of Denver is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $999 and one year in jail. And it is illegal to sell tickets, even at cost, on stadium property.
Denver police routinely arrest scalpers, Jackson said, adding that 10 summonses were issued during the San Diego Padres’ matchup that won the Rockies their wild-card shot at the playoffs.
Tickets can be sold for above face value outside Denver, where local ordinances permit.
Whitlock paid $3,090 for 60 tickets to the upcoming series through a Coors Field ticket window before they were sold out.
He sold two tickets before the two that landed him in hot water, Jackson said.
Whitlock was carrying a spreadsheet showing that he expected to make $14,000 profit on the tickets, police said.
