Husband and wife tree trimmers allegedly scammed older customers in Jefferson County
Court cases against a Colorado couple continue Wednesday in Jefferson County where Joseph and Amelia Tyler are accused of tricking older customers into paying in full for tree trimming services, then abandoning the work before it's finished.
Joseph Tyler, 48, has nine active court cases involving felony theft and theft from at-risk adults. Four of those cases are in Jefferson County.
Amelia Tyler, 36, has three active cases with the similar charges. Two are in JeffCo.
The two have several cases in common, and each face 34 counts for offenses allegedly committed in Arvada, according to online court records. Charges indicate the pair stole amounts ranging from $50 to $750 from their customers. The offenses occurred over a three-month period from October 2021 to January 2022.
It was Arvada PD which asked for the public's help in locating the couple on Sept. 1. At that time, the agency stated the husband-wife team had swindled an elderly citizen near the intersection of 80th Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard the day before.
"These individuals," the agency stated in a Facebook post, "are suspects in multiple thefts across the Denver Metro area. The suspects start the work and then request payment by check or cash. The suspects leave with the payment, and do not complete the work."
The couple was arrested in Otero County in mid-October.
Joseph Tyler has two preliminary hearings scheduled in JeffCo courts Wednesday for Arvada cases, and then returns Thursday morning for formal filing of charges in a Lakewood PD case.
Amelia Tyler's preliminary hearings for her Arvada cases are in the first week of December.
Their other active cases are in El Paso and Otero counties.
Court records show Joseph Tyler was sentenced in 2013 to three years in the Colorado Department of Corrections for failing to register as a sex offender. That is the exact charge in one of JeffCo's current cases. Joseph Tyler is still shown on Colorado's Sex Offender Registry as most recently a Pueblo resident, although homeless.
