Many observant readers of The Durango Herald noticed something oddly similar about four headshots taken last month of criminal defendants who made the news: They’re all wearing what appear to be the same green plaid shirt. And they asked: Is it a crazy coincidence or is there a more logical explanation?

Readers expressed concern that the identical clothing signaled gang activity in Southwest Colorado. But that’s not the case.

Inmates are typically photographed wearing the same clothes they had on at the time of their arrests, said Dan Bender, spokesman with the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office.

But sometimes, a suspect’s clothing is considered evidence, and therefore collected and bagged by law enforcement, he said. In those cases, the jail gives suspects clothing to wear during the booking process, which includes having a headshot taken, Bender said.

Such was the case with the four criminal suspects who made news last month. One of the defendants, Michael Fisher Wilson, 20, was arrested on suspicion of attempted robbery of a grocery store in Bayfield and leading police on a six-hour car and foot pursuit. The other three – Devin “Ducky” Richard Bond, 21; Anthony “Izzy” Israel Fitts, 18; and James Thomas Zink, 18 – are co-defendants accused of a violent sexual assault in Durango.

Unlike the orange jumpsuits issued by the jail, or the black-and-white striped uniforms used by prisons, the green plaid shirts don’t look any different than what an average Durangoan might have in his closet.

Will this cause some residents to reconsider wearing their favorite green plaid shirt?

No need for that, Bender said; the jail has several clothes that rotate out monthly, “and that happens to be the pattern for (October).”

shane@durangoherald.com