WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. — Police in Wheat Ridge have recommended murder charges be filed against a 41-year-old man in the shooting death of a beloved shop owner.
Peter Arguello was shot and killed during a robbery around 11:15 a.m. on Nov. 29 while he was working at his jewelry and antiques shop on West 38th Avenue at Teller Street.
Police believe Charles Robinson Shay is a suspect in Arguello's slaying. Shay has been in the Jefferson County jail since Dec. 27 after he was arrested breaking into Arguello's shop on Dec. 26.
According to the arrest affidavit in the break-in case, Shay's DNA matched DNA that was left on some flex cuffs that were found on the floor in front of a safe from which silver coins had been removed. Surveillance video showed a man had tried to use the cuffs on Arguello, but Arguello resisted and the man shot him.
After Shay was arrested, he told investigators he had broken into the jewelry store on Dec. 26. He said he had heard about the homicide at the business and had looked at this "as a crime of opportunity, knowing that the business was boarded up and not occupied," the affidavit says.
When police told Shay that his DNA had been found on the flex cuffs recovered after the fatal shooting, Shay decided to stop talking, according to the affidavit.
The First Judicial District Attorney's Office will determine final charges that may be filed against Shay.
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