The owner of Wagon Wheel Liquors ran afoul of local authorities after a May Herald article detailing his unique method for dealing with shoplifters made national headlines. Fidanque gave offenders a choice - surrender one shoe in a gesture of shame or he would call the police. But it was the Durango Police Department that foiled his plan, interpreting the policy as a form of intimidation and extortion.

"I think that if they knew exactly how I did it, it would've looked a lot less like extortion," Fidanque said Friday after a visit to his attorney's office.

Armed with new legal advice, Fidanque has resumed his theft-deterrent strategy, and a recently confiscated Nike sneaker is evidence of its success. His attorney, Denny Ehlers, drafted a short contract that should make any retribution on Fidanque's part legally binding.

"My impression is if Gabe was taking a shoe and he has a person sign off in lieu of any legal remedies and the person is willing to leave their shoe, it would be the equivalent of the settlement of a civil dispute," Ehlers said.

"I think it might be inappropriate to accept payment in the form of a shoe to refrain from criminal prosecution, but Gabe's always been his own man," he said.

Colorado law allows for such an agreement, and it's one that has been used for years by King Soopers, the parent company of City Market. The statute permits business owners to collect as much as $250 in restitution from violators caught by store security personnel, and King Soopers spokesperson Trail Daugherty said it's a common practice.

"We do and have participated in the state statute for civil restitution for as long as I can remember," Daugherty said.

"We participate because it's our hope that it's a deterrent to individuals shoplifting. Unfortunately, there's an increasing number, and we've seen a rise in both shoplifting and the catching of shoplifters," he said.

Daugherty said King Soopers does not use the restitution statute in place of prosecution, and all shoplifters are reported to local police. But Fidanque said the whole point of his alternative is to deal with a problem that is too trivial to warrant valuable police time.

"The last time I called, the guy was long gone, and the cops said they probably couldn't and wouldn't go after him - I can understand that. It doesn't make economic sense to spend time chasing someone for something worth five bucks," Fidanque said.

Fidanque's legal defense has yet to withstand the scrutiny of the District Attorney's office, and District Attorney Craig Westberg did not return calls for this story. But the Durango Police Department will be watching the progress of Fidanque's efforts.

Durango Police Capt. Micki Browning received countless e-mails from around the country critical of the department's stance after the national furor the story received. Much of the criticism was due in part to the Associated Press coverage of the story omitting a key quote from Browning in which she said the police had no plans to prosecute Fidanque. The quote appeared in the Herald article but was not picked up by other news sources, leading to the deluge of complaints.

"I was called everything from a fascist to a liberal," she said in early June.

On Friday, a cautious Browning gave Fidanque credit for his legal efforts but again stopped short of endorsing his crime-fighting methods.

"I'm happy to hear that he's researching ways to comply with the law; the goal of law enforcement is voluntary compliance, and anything he can do to stay within the confines of the law is the appropriate path to take," Browning said.

The next chapter in the story is sure to cause even more of a stir. Fidanque recently constructed the "Wheel of Consequences," which, if approved, will allow shoplifters to choose their own punishment by spinning a large wheel with several options. Those options haven't been finalized, but Fidanque said punishments could include the shaving of one eyebrow, the forced donning of a "dunce cap" to be worn by the offender for a predetermined amount of time or the wearing of a sandwich-board sign advertising the business.

Fidanque said customers have been unanimously supportive of the shoe-nabbing system, and Barry Collins was happy to hear it will be reinstated while he finished his shopping Friday afternoon.

"I approve," Collins said.

"Charles Bronson would be proud."

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