After theft of SUV with work tools and documents in it, Colorado man's life turned upside: "It's devastating"

A car theft in broad daylight has turned a Colorado man's life upside down as the tools inside helped him earn a living.

On Aug. 31, Gareth Gallegos woke up to find his SUV had been stolen from his Aurora home.

"We walked outside of our house, and I thought, 'wow, what's going on here?'" Gallegos said. "My heart pretty much sank into my stomach."

Even worse, the thieves got papers with his personal information, which he left in his car.

"I probably should have not had them in there, but because I had recently used my documents, they were in there," Gallegos said.

And they got away with his tools which were also in the truck. He says that will hurt his income.

"I support myself doing side work to make ends meet," Gallegos said. "Now I don't have the tools to do that work anymore."

Gallegos says the thieves came in a Chevy Tahoe, broke into his GMC Yukon XL and took off in it. The whole incident took minutes but turned Gallegos' life upside down.

"It's devastating," he said.

Gallegos certainly isn't alone. Auto theft is a known problem in Aurora. But city officials are fighting back.

In 2022, Aurora's City Council imposed a minimum 60-day jail sentence for auto theft and since then auto thefts have been cut in half from twenty thousand a year to ten thousand this year so far.

In 2023, the state legislature made it a felony to steal a car.

Statewide auto thefts were also down from 2022 to 2023, the year with the most recent available data.

Gallegos says no matter where you live, you should protect yourself.

"At least have comprehensive coverage. Do not keep anything of value in your vehicle," he said. "Leave it as bare as possible."

He thinks that even though Aurora has tough penalties for auto theft, the city and state need to be even tougher because auto theft can ruin your life: "They really put a lot of hurt and a lot of debt onto a person and a person's life."