People v. Ambrose.

2026 COA 39. No. 25CA2319. Aggravated Robbery—CRS § 18-4-302(1)(d)—“Then and There So Armed.”

May 21, 2026

Ambrose took five cases of Red Bull energy drink from a convenience store without paying. He loaded the cases into a truck parked in the store’s parking lot. When the store’s manager confronted Ambrose, he said, “[W]e got everything we need, there’s nothing you can do about it, I have a 9-mil in the car.” Officers later stopped Ambrose’s vehicle, and he admitted to one of the officers that he had stolen the Red Bull. Ambrose was charged under CRS § 18-4-302(1)(d) with aggravated robbery of a convenience store, which provides that a person commits aggravated robbery if during the robbery or immediate flight therefrom the person represents to anyone present that they are “then and there so armed” with an article that any person present reasonably believes to be a deadly weapon. At a preliminary hearing, the prosecution made an evidentiary showing supporting the charge. Ambrose’s counsel argued that the prosecution hadn’t presented evidence of the aggravated robbery element—that Ambrose had made the manager believe Ambrose was “then and there so armed” with a deadly weapon. The district court found that the prosecution had established probable cause to believe that Ambrose had committed robbery but hadn’t established probable cause to believe that he had committed aggravated robbery. The court reasoned that the “then and there so armed” element required proof that Ambrose represented that he had a deadly weapon (or other covered article) on his person. And because the prosecution hadn’t presented such evidence, the court reduced the charge from aggravated robbery to robbery.

On appeal, the People contended that the district court misinterpreted the phrase “then and there so armed.” The People maintained that a person is “then and there so armed” when the weapon is easily accessible and readily available for use, and by using this correct interpretation, sufficient evidence established probable cause to believe that Ambrose committed aggravated robbery. The court of appeals held for the first time in a published opinion that the “then and there so armed” element can be proved with evidence that the defendant represented that they had a deadly weapon readily available for their use when they made the representation. The defendant need not have represented that they had a deadly weapon on their person. Here, the prosecution’s evidence was sufficient to establish that there was a deadly weapon in the truck that was easily accessible and readily available for Ambrose’s use when he made the threat. Accordingly, the district court erred by concluding that the prosecution failed to establish probable cause to believe that Ambrose committed aggravated robbery.

The order was reversed and the case was remanded for reinstatement of the aggravated robbery charge.