4 suspects arrested after Colorado authorities crack down on serial shoplifting scheme

The Aurora Police Department announced on Thursday that officers arrested four suspects who were allegedly connected to a serial shoplifting scheme.

According to the department, on Aug. 15, officers received a report that a Ford F-150 was stolen in Lakewood, and later that day, it was identified as a vehicle of interest in an armed robbery with a knife at an Aurora business. 

On Friday, detectives were able to locate the stolen vehicle driving in Aurora, and that's when several APD units joined the investigation in surveilling the truck. 

Officers saw five occupants inside the vehicle and watched the group visit several businesses in The Gardens at the Havana shopping center. 

Aurora PD monitored the truck until it had driven and parked in an alley between East Exposition Avenue and South Ironton Street. The suspects then divvied up several items of suspected stolen items and went their separate ways, according to APD.

Afterward, officers developed a plan to make an arrest, which led to four out of the five suspects being taken into custody. The officers also recovered the stolen merchandise that were described as clothes, shoes, and accessories that were worth hundreds of dollars.

The stolen items were returned to the businesses, and it was revealed that, in a couple of instances, business employees didn't realize they had been victims of theft.

April Corona, 36, Jacob Bryant, 26, and Rochelle Attas, 33, all of Denver, and Trenton Askew, 40, of Aurora face charges under Aurora's new retail theft ordinance while the armed robbery investigation remains ongoing. 

First passed in 2023 by city council and strengthened earlier this year with lower thresholds and stiffer penalties, the retail theft ordinance mandates a minimum three-day jail sentence for retail theft of $100 or more, while repeat offenders could face 90 to 180 days in jail.