Vail Police Department recognizes trend of thieves targeting Colorado mountain town to commit crimes
Sgt. David Dempsey with Vail Police Department knows a pattern exists within the criminal cases he sees within Vail city limits. A good amount of the time, theft cases are perpetrated by people who don't live there, but who are traveling for the explicit purpose to steal high-value items from one of Colorado's wealthiest locations on average.
"I think that there is a perception that Vail has a lot of nice things, and that may be an accurate perception," Dempsey said. "But I'd say, if you come to Vail to steal bikes or steal other items, my team is very good at what they do. We are very good at coming up with evidence and very good at finding the people who are doing these things."
Dempsey said a large portion of his team's work right now is talking with other law enforcement agencies and swapping info and evidence they have of their crimes to see if their suspects are popping up in other municipalities.
Right now, VPD is searching for thieves who stole a jacket from a high-end store in the Vail Village, and a bike worth more than $2,000. When thefts are above that value, they become felony charges. That level of crime also makes it easier for VPD to get resources across the state or the country.
"Historically, we are pretty good at catching them before they leave Colorado," Dempsey said. "It doesn't mean that, if we have a case that does leave Colorado, it's over. We can call upon our partners from other states, federal, local agencies, from all different jurisdictions, if it is a felony theft."
"Doesn't matter if you get caught in Colorado. If you get caught, you get caught, and we might be bringing you back."
While it could be easy to write off theft against one of the wealthiest communities on average in Colorado, VPD said the victims are not always who you might stereotype up here. Dempsey said one of his most memorable recoveries from a theft was someone who had their mountain bike stolen — which was their prized possession.
"He had spent a significant amount of his hard-earned money to buy that mountain bike and that bike was kind of his ... world revolved around for his free time and to hand that bike over to him," Dempsey said. "That makes it all worth it to him."
If you have any information that might help VPD solve the crimes you saw in this story, feel free to contact the police department.
