Colorado law enforcement investigating two different kinds of burglary rings
Investigators from across the Denver metro area are working together to solve two different burglary rings, including burglaries at luxury homes and Asian-owned businesses and homes. There is also more outreach happening in impacted communities, which included a town hall conversation on Monday afternoon in Arapahoe County.
Law enforcement agencies across multiple jurisdictions, including the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office and Douglas County Sheriff's Office, are working closely together to investigate all leads to catch the burglars involved. Agencies are also getting the word out that community members should be on the lookout for suspicious activity.
Officials say no arrests have been made, but investigators have idenified several suspects and hope to make arrests soon.
The Arapahoe County and Douglas County Sheriff's Office say there's been an uptick in burglaries, specifically burglars breaking into luxury homes during the dinner hours. Many of these homes back up to open spaces, trails and golf courses. The burglars are stealing valuables such as jewelry, designer purses, cash and safes.
Burglars are also targeting Asian homeowners and businesses, stealing similar items.
Sheriff Darren M. Weekly of Douglas County Sheriff's Office says burglars are surveilling Asian business owners and following them home, finding out where they live, then burglarizing their homes. In Douglas County, burglaries against Asian communities this year have led to nearly $1 million in losses.
Sheriff Tyle Brown of Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office said the county has reported nine dinnertime burglaries this year, and 26 burglaries targeting Asian businesses and homes since early last year. Two of the victims in the Asian community were targeted more than once. Investigators also say the nine dinnertime thefts total almost $1 million in stolen items.
"There are two separate motives and two separate crime trees that are occurring, but it's important that we update the community and we bring awareness to this situation," Sheriff Brown said.
Brown said these kinds of crimes are happening across the county, but local law enforcement agencies are now working collaboratively to address the organized crime and sharing information across jurisdictions.
"We're working collaboratively with every law enforcement agency in the Denver metro area to mitigate this as quickly as we possibly can," Brown said.
About three months ago, the chairman of a Hindu temple in Castle Rock got a call he was not expecting.
"It was the first time we had a burglary. Somebody broke in, and they broke the front door," said Sreedhar Donthula, the chairman of Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple of Colorado
The temple lies in a remote area with few homes around it. Donthula said, when the burglar broke in, they broke the front door, turned off the alarm system and cut off the phone lines before rummaging through the building. Donthula said the burglar got away with about $25,000 from the temple.
"We have donation boxes in the temple. They took away all the cash, as well as there is an office, and we have a safe box, so they took the whole safe box," Donthula explained.
Donthula's neighborhood and community he lives in has also been hit by burglaries.
"We recently had another burgarly close to my home, and they took a lot of jewelry and cash," Donthula said.
For now, community members like him are doing what they can and hope arrests are made soon.
"This is a really scary situation and a big shocker in the community," Donthula said. "We all can watch out and look out for each other and give any clues to the cops."
Donthula said they have since upgraded their security systems and added extra security around the temple.
All investigators looking into these crimes are meeting again on Tuesday morning to discuss potential leads and updates.
Safety tips
- Having working camera and security systems
- Locking doors, leaving lights on outside your home
- Hiring known and reputable contractors for home or yard work
- Have neighbors check on your home if you're going to be gone for an extended period of time
- Installing shatter-proof windows
- Reporting any suspicious activity
