Springs Man Faces Charges In 1992 Crimes
Court documents released Thursday provide more details about the case against a man who authorities said tried to escape prosecution by fleeing to Canada 14 years ago.
Todd Wilcox, 49, is charged with second-degree kidnapping in Colorado Springs. Canadian authorities arrested him in a theft Wednesday and deported him back to the United States. Wilcox currently is in the custody of the New York State Police and awaits extradition to Colorado.
According to court records, Wilcox and an accomplice, Weldon Long, 47, were suspected of committing armed robberies at three restaurants in late 1992. The robberies happened three weeks apart, with two occurring on the same day, the document revealed.
The document explained that in each robbery, a man broke into the store during early-morning hours wearing a ski mask, pointed a pistol at an employee, shouted threats and profanities, and took money from the safe. The gunman spoke through a two-way radio with another man who stood on guard outside the store.
Employees were forced to lie on the floor and were bound and gagged with duct tape, the document stated. In one robbery, tools were used to break open a safe. Nearly $15,000 was taken in the robberies.
The document revealed that Wilcox and Long bragged about the robberies to family members, even doing so from one of the restaurants.
In January 1993, according to the document, Wilcox and Long were pulled over for running a stop sign by a police officer in Eagle, Colo. The officer found many of the items described as being used in the robberies, including a scanner programmed to police frequencies. The officer also found an open container of alcohol.
The document explained that Long told police the scanner and radio were birthday presents from his wife, that the tools were for cutting wood, and that all the items were to be used for a back country skiing trip. Wilcox refused to talk with police without an attorney present.
An Eagle police detective obtained blood samples from both men, according to the document, and Long’s sample matched a sample found at one of the robbery scenes.
The court document states that Eagle police released Wilcox and Long after the 1993 traffic stop because there wasn’t enough evidence to arrest them for the robberies.
The El Paso County District Attorney’s Office confirmed that Long pleaded guilty in 1999 to kidnapping and robbery and received a 12-year prison sentence. Authorities believe Wilcox fled to Canada in 1997 after the FBI and the IRS began investigating the men. A federal grand jury indicted the men on telemarketing fraud charges that same year.
