Teenagers burglarize 5 gun shops in 3 Denver metro area cities
Three law enforcement agencies and a federal task force have joined forces to track down nine suspects who hit five gun stores in two days.
The burglary spree started just after midnight Sunday at Centennial Gun Club. Surveillance video shows a group of young men casing the place. Then one of them walks around back where investigators say he smashed a window and set off an alarm.
Ginger Delgado with Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office says they left empty-handed.
"We had a lot deputies respond, we had our canines out there, we had our drone unit," Delgado said.
20 minutes later they struck again. This time at Bowers Tactical in Centennial, where they smashed the front door of the store and made off with ammunition and parts to AR-15 rifles. And they were just getting started.
Over the next 24 hours, they would hit Mile High Armory in Denver, The Shootist in Englewood, and Bighorn Firearms in Denver.
Fortunately, Delgado says, they weren't able to steal any guns.
"If God forbid they get their hands on some weapons it could potentially be a very dangerous situation," Delgado said.
Bighorn Firearms owner Ryan Resch keeps his weapons behind multiple layers of security but enhanced protections in case the suspects come back.
"They're going to mess with the wrong person and they're either going to get hurt... or you know they're going to end up hurting somebody else and spend the rest of their lives behind bars," he said.
Resch says they appeared calm and confident, spending 20 minutes breaking through a secure window as pedestrians and cars passed by.
"It'd be nice to see some local community kind of looking out for each other a little bit more when they see this kind of activity actually... calling the police."
This is the first time his shop has been hit. He says he's had at least five break-ins in 11 years.
"People work really hard to make living and it's just really unfair you know? And I just hope these kids... I mean they work so hard getting through window you think they could apply that sort of... gumption to something worthwhile," he said.
Investigators are worried they'll escalate instead and are asking for help identifying them. While they were wearing masks, detectives suspect they're in their mid-teens to early 20s based on their attire - hoodies, croc shoes, and one carried a backpack with a shark on it.
They were driving several vehicles, including a stolen 2019 white Hyundai Tucson with a Texas plate, a 2018 silver or gray Hyundai Sonata or Elantra, a red crossover like a Kia Sportage, and two black Kia or Hyundai sedans.
If you have information about the burglaries, you can call the tipline at Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office at 720-874-8477
