Avon woman accused of aiding and abetting a fatal hit-and-run crash also faces felony charges in embezzlement case

Avon resident Stephanie Whitmarsh is out on bail for allegedly helping her daughter flee the state after cyclist Mario Vildozola Romero was killed in a hit-and-run crash in January. Now she has been arrested and faces another criminal charge of stealing from her employer.

Details of the second case predate the arrest of Whitmarsh's daughter, 24-year-old Sidney Whitmarsh, by about a year. Avon police began investigating 46-year-old Stephanie Whitmarsh in March 2023 after her employer filed a theft report.

According to an affidavit filed by Stephanie Whitmarsh, Avon police Detective Theresa Reno first contacted Stephanie Whitmarsh about the theft charge on April 3, about two weeks after her daughter was arrested in Arkansas. Reno had obtained records from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment showing that Whitmarsh earned $108,870 between October 2021 and September 2022. Her employer told police that this amount was suspicious because it was more than double her previous year's income.

Stephanie Whitmarsh explained during the April 3 interview that she has taken on more leadership roles in the company and completed tasks from home.

Stephanie Whitmarsh was subsequently arrested and charged on April 29 as an accomplice to her daughter's alleged crime. Prosecutors allege she helped Sidney avoid detection by driving her “halfway to Arkansas” and driving to the crime scene to make sure “you couldn't see anything from the road,” according to court testimony on April 30. She faces serious charges of aiding and abetting a crime, tampering with evidence and covering up a death. Stephanie Whitmarsh was released a day later on $10,000 bail.

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In a follow-up interview in July regarding the theft allegations, Reno said Stephanie Whitmarsh “changed her statements” regarding management work and the amount of work done from home, the affidavit states.

Reno said that while reviewing information provided by Stephanie Whitmarsh, her employer and the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, he found four areas of fraudulent activity, including double-billed hours, unbilled hours and mileage, unauthorized use of a business credit card and reimbursement of personal expenses, and billing for out-of-town hours.

“There is a reasonable suspicion that Ms. Whitmarsh committed the offense of unauthorized use of a financial instrument, a Class 4 felony, on 55 separate occasions,” totaling $3,983.04, the affidavit states.

There is also reasonable suspicion that Whitmarsh committed theft, a Class 4 felony, when she double-billed her hours, reported unbilled time and mileage and submitted fraudulent expense reports for personal goods totaling $44,047.41, according to the affidavit.

Stephanie Whitmarsh also faces one count of unauthorized access to the company's computer network (cybercrime), a Class 4 felony. According to the affidavit, she gained access to the company's computer network without authorization and made “fraudulent timesheet entries for unscheduled times, such as days off or out-of-town vacations.”

Stephanie Whitmarsh was arrested on August 8 on charges of theft, unauthorized use of a financial device, and unauthorized access to her account as part of cybercrime and was released the same day on $5,000 bail.

Stephanie Whitmarsh is scheduled to appear in court on November 12 in both cases.

Sidney Whitmarsh was arrested in Arkansas in March and is charged with two felony counts after she allegedly struck and killed Romero with her car and left the scene of the accident in the early morning hours of Jan. 7. At her last court appearance, Sidney Whitmarsh's attorney, Coleen O'Leary, told Judge Inga Causey that her client had rejected a plea deal with a 30-year prison sentence in the Department of Justice.