Year-long Colorado auto theft investigation leads to indictment of 13 people

Thirteen people are accused of operating an auto theft ring that investigators say is responsible for terrorizing the Denver metro area for months. In many cases the ring targeted Denver International Airport.

"Someone should be able to leave a car at the airport, go on a trip, return, and not be worried that their car won't be in the parking lot when they get back," 17th Judicial District Attorney Brian Mason said.

His office will prosecute the case after a grand jury indicted the group after a year-long investigation involving multiple jurisdictions as well as the Colorado Auto Theft Prevention Authority and Metropolitan Auto Theft Task Force.

"We have to send a message to those who are stealing cars across the state of Colorado, that there will be a consequence when you commit this crime," Mason added.

According to the indictment, the ring allegedly sought out Ford trucks, which happens to be the top stolen vehicle out of DIA parking lots this year. The indictment alleges they would use those truck in smash and grabs and were looking for ATMs.

Last, November CBS Colorado started looking into a rash of ATM thefts and spoke with an Aurora businesses owner who was hit.

Police told us then they believed it was part of a larger organization.

"At first I thought I was a target for no apparent reason," the owner told us last November.

While auto thefts in Colorado have often been linked to unlocked cars or break-ins, investigators believe this group used more sophisticated tools to reprogram key fobs or dismantle GPS.

The indictment also references DNA found in several of the recovered vehicles. Cale Gould with the Colorado Auto Theft Prevention Authority says it is a key piece of the investigation.

"The forensics portion of this case is very strong. Forensics exists for this -- for the ability to tie crimes like this," Gould said.

In total they are now linked to 59 stolen vehicles, what Gould called the largest auto theft ring in Colorado right now.

"Organizations like this always have offshoots and they have small members and what not. This is absolutely the bulk of it," he said. 

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