Thief Steals Detective's Unmarked Police Car
WESTMINSTER, Colo. (CBS4) - Police across the state are scrambling to locate an unmarked Boulder County Sheriff's car after it was stolen overnight outside an apartment complex in Westminster.
The detective who drives the car reported that vehicle was stolen sometime between 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday and 6 a.m. on Thursday. It was stolen from the parking lot of the detective's apartment, located on the 3800 block of West 68th Street.
The detective told Westminster police he accidentally left his keys in the door of his apartment Wednesday night. After he first noticed Thursday that his keys were missing he went out to the parking lot of the complex and discovered the car was missing.
It had multiple important pieces of police equipment inside, including:
- AR-15 rifle with three 30-round magazines
- bulletproof vest
- duty belt
- emergency lights and siren
- police radio
- small antenna mounted on the center of the trunk lid
CBS4's Rick Sallinger asked sheriff's spokesman Rick Brough why the detective needed to be driving around with the powerful semiautomatic weapon.
"Pretty much all of our commissioned officers have been trained to carry rifles like this. And since incidents (like Columbine) where the criminals are able to get high powered weapons we basically have to carry things like this," Brough said.
The license on the car was a Colorado plate with the number 030FYO. The vehicle is a 2005 black Ford Taurus. Because the car is unmarked, police said the emergency lights "are subdued and are not readily visible."
Police are asking anyone with any information about the crime to contact the Westminster Police Department at (303) 658-4360 or the Boulder County Sheriff's Office at (303) 441-4444.
