Californians traveled to Colorado to burglarize Front Range construction sites: prosecutors
Six Californians have been charged with a wide range of crimes after police from across the Colorado front range said they targeted 39 construction sites, stealing more than $1.1 million in construction property. The six alleged thieves traveled from California to Colorado since 2020, targeting construction sites from Fort Collins all the way down to Douglas County.
According to prosecutors in Boulder County, where the six have been charged, the 39 construction sites were in 13 cities and five different counties.
The six charged are Carlos Campos, Samuel Arevalo Aguilar, Oscar Herrera, Francisco Agueta, Ricardo Quevedo Rios, and Bayron Moreno Gomez. Carlos Campos lead the six with charged, facing 76 counts including violations of the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act, multiple counts of burglary, theft and criminal mischief.
Most of those involved have a $1 million bond, with two having a bond of $300,000.
The thieves allegedly went on to target many housing and school construction sites. Two of the locations targeted were in Larimer County at schools.
Poudre School District fell victim at Wellington Middle-High School. There, according to LCSO, the suspects broke into 14 storage containers on the northern Colorado property. The construction company reported losses of more than $136,000 in that one burglary alone.
To the southeast of PSD's property, up-and-coming charter school Ascent Classical Academy of Northern Colorado was also targeted. Construction crews at the new charter school reported losses of $43,200 in May of 2021.
The cities impacted by the ring included Monument, Aurora, Broomfield, Northglenn, Denver, Greeley, Fort Collins, Firestone, Arvada, Loveland, Commerce City, Brighton and Lafayette.
The counties impacted by the ring were Boulder County, Jefferson County, Larimer County, Douglas County and Weld County.
Investigators from multiple agencies worked together under the secret name of "Operation Wrecking Ball."
"This crime ring traveled to Colorado for the purpose of breaking into construction sites and stealing equipment. Their actions had an incredibly disruptive impact on the construction companies as well as the owners of the sites," Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said in a written statement. "For their conduct, these defendants will face serious consequences. I want to personally thank the detectives and prosecutors who poured a tremendous amount of work into this massive investigation. They, along with our partners, have brought this crime ring to a halt."
