The man suspected of starting a fire behind the Haber Motel last summer is in custody, receiving treatment at a state mental health facility in Pueblo, while his criminal case is on hold.
Thomas Chase Hill, 33, who faces first-degree arson and other charges, is at the Colorado Mental Health Hospital in Pueblo.
Until recently, he had been in custody at the Larimer County Jail while he was in a queue awaiting treatment. Requests by his defense for work release and outpatient treatment have been denied, court records show.
At a hearing on Jan. 8, Colorado Eighth District Judge Susan Blanco said that Hill seemed to be doing well in the jail’s general population and taking his medication seriously.
In addition to arson, Hill faces charges of criminal mischief, a class-six felony; second-degree burglary, a class-four felony; and theft, a class-two misdemeanor.
According to the complaint against him, on July 25, Hill allegedly broke into Blades Knife Store, located at 145 East Elkhorn Ave. in Estes Park, damaged property valued between $2,000 and $5,000, and stole a sword valued between $300 and $1,000. He then allegedly set fire to the Haber Motel at 397 East Elkhorn Ave.
The Haber Motel, which appears intact from the outside, suffered smoke and water damage and has been closed for repairs.
This is not Hill’s first arson charge. He was sentenced to 45 days in jail and two years’ probation after pleading guilty to fourth-degree arson in Grand County. A fire that started near his Kremmling home in 2020 burned a shed and a car and spread to another property before firefighters stopped it, Ski-Hi News reported at the time.
Hill, of Golden, Colo., also faces charges in Jefferson County, where he was accused of breaking into a Target store in July 2023, assaulting and attempting to strangle a man in October 2023, and breaking into and damaging property at a dollar store in March 2024. Defense attorneys have filed motions to dismiss the two 2023 cases.
A docket report shows that a misdemeanor indecent exposure charge was dismissed on Feb. 11 by a judge in Jefferson County due to competency findings, after prosecutors noted that Hill has been in custody for over six months.
Hill’s next review hearing in Larimer County is scheduled for April 30.
The Haber Motel fire was the second arson case in Estes Park last July. Earlier this month, Steven Poff pleaded guilty to fourth-degree arson for starting a fire in a public right-of-way along West Elkhorn Avenue that got out of control. Poff was sentenced to 18 months of probation and 75 hours of community service.
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