DA Brian Mason spoke to Westword this week about the alleged terror spree and auto theft ring, which was uncovered during an investigation that lasted from February 2022 to March 2023, with over fifty vehicles being stolen from car dealerships and Denver International Airport during that span, and more than thirty burglaries committed or attempted.
“These are dangerous crimes that have a real impact on the victim," Mason says. "And we're doing something about it."
Late last month, an Adams County grand jury indicted the alleged car thieves on over 120 counts of racketeering and participating in a criminal enterprise, theft, conspiracy, burglary, aggravated motor vehicle theft, vehicular alluding, owning or operating a chop shop, and possession of a dangerous weapon.
One member was charged with only two crimes, while the other twelve racked up the other charges. All but four of the individuals are currently in custody. The suspects that are at large are located in the U.S. and Mexico, but the 17th Judicial District didn't specify where.
“When somebody goes to Denver International Airport, parks their car in a parking lot and heads out on a trip to fly somewhere, they shouldn't have to worry that the car isn't going to be there when they get back,” Mason says. “Auto thieves have been terrorizing the metro area and the entire state of Colorado, stealing cars and then using those cars to commit other crimes, even bigger crimes, as alleged in this indictment.”
The group allegedly favored Ford F-150 trucks — Colorado's most stolen vehicle — which they would then use to ram into businesses and steal ATMs.
It took a group of public servants to catch the criminals, with Mason and the DA's office working with the Colorado Auto Theft Prevention Authority (CATPA), the CATPA Metropolitan Auto Theft Task Force, the Auto Theft Intelligence Coordination Center, Beat Auto Theft Through Law Enforcement and the Colorado State Patrol to bust them.
“They're all our granteesm and they work together all the time, but this was a really great chance where they were able to showcase some of their fantastic work through their collaboration,” says Cale Gould, statewide public outreach coordinator for CATPA.
CATPA is a grants unit within the Colorado State Patrol that, since 2009, has collected a $1 fee on auto insurance policies, which it then uses to make yearly grants for initiatives related to preventing auto theft in the state. For this investigation, CATPA grants covered salary and overtime hours dedicated to the work.
The alleged crimes took place across Colorado, in Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Boulder, Denver, Jefferson and Logan counties. However, the “nexus” was in Adams County, so the 17th Judicial District — which oversees it — took the lead on prosecution, Mason says.
“These alleged crimes happened all over the metro area, but most of them have some sort of a connection to Adams County,” he explains. “That either means the cars were stolen in Adams County or they were brought to Adams County after they were stolen.”
According to the indictment, the auto theft ring would share profits from their crimes and swap devices back and forth that they used to break into vehicles and disable GPS systems. The group then would use those cars to steal ATMs, but also frequently took vaping devices, the indictment says.
“Vehicles are tools, like they are for me and you,” Gould says. “We take them from point A to point B to get to work every day. Well, this group was using these vehicles as a literal battering ram to then facilitate these other crimes.”
The case first came to CATPA through the Colorado Independent Dealers Association, whose members realized they had experienced several similar car thefts. From there, the investigation took off.
DIA was a frequent target of this crime ring.
Denver International Airport
The indictment details each alleged offense, but one example illustrating the group’s methods occurred between September and October 2022. In September, a Dodge Challenger was stolen from a citizen in Arapahoe County. On October 3, law enforcement found the Challenger and fitted it with a tracking device.
“The 2013 Dodge Challenger was recovered by law enforcement on October 25, 2022, after it was utilized to pick up individuals involved in a burglary who were fleeing police,” the indictment explains.
On that day, members of the group allegedly broke into Modified Madness Tattoo and a Save-A-Lot in Adams County and the Hilton Garden Hotel and Leetsdale Liquor in Arapahoe County. The group also hit an Alta Conoco Gas Station in Denver before being pursued by police from Pawn King in Arapahoe County while driving an F-150, according to the indictment.
From there, they switched to the Challenger before finally being caught.
“The suspects were taken into custody and identified as Hector Escalera-Hernandez, Cesar Poblano, Brian Valladares, Rodrigo Perez-Gonzalez,” the indictment says. “There were also three juveniles.”
It was common for members of the group to help each other during heists to avoid police contact, the indictment adds.
“Means of evading the police included firing gunshots to draw away police attention, committing vehicular eluding, and picking each other up when an Individual would flee police from a stolen vehicle,” it alleges. “Law enforcement frequently found guns in vehicles stolen by the Individuals.”
During the investigation, the team used DNA evidence — something that’s not typically done for property crimes, Gould says. “If there was extensive forensic work being done on a large scale of property crimes, it would create a huge backup in our laboratories,” he explains. “Due to the nature of this case, how it was being worked through our Metropolitan Auto Theft Task Force, extensive forensics was done and performed both by a private entity as well as the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.”
The investigation included fingerprint analysis and vehicle forensics, like examining items left behind in stolen vehicles that were later recovered. Authorities discovered that members of the group would often connect their phones to the infotainment systems of vehicles, allowing law enforcement to identify the phone numbers of some of the people who were allegedly involved.
For example, three members connected their phones to a 2019 Ford Raptor that was stolen from DIA, according to the indictment.
Several got together to allegedly swipe a Bentley Continental worth over $63,000. Other vehicles that were stolen had lower values, the indictment says, like a Jeep Wrangler valued at $8,400 and a Dodge Ram worth $21,000.
Mason says this case is just one illustration of the way car theft negatively impacts people of all income levels.
“Motor vehicle theft has a real impact on victims, and I sometimes hear folks say, ‘Well this is just a property crime,’ and I just fundamentally disagree with that characterization,” he tells Westword. “If your car gets stolen and you can't get to work, you can lose your job. If your car gets stolen and you can't get your kids to school or daycare, or to the store to buy groceries, you can't provide for your family or take care of them. … We need to send a message to motor vehicle thieves that if you engage in this kind of crime, there will be a consequence.”
While seeing results from a collaborative and extensive investigation is great, CATPA actually has a website that shares tips for insulating yourself from theft that Gould encourages people to check out so they’re less likely to be targeted by criminals in the first place.
The 17th Judicial District's next steps will be moving forward with prosecution.
“It has been a very long investigation, and I’m very, very proud of the work of this team,” Mason says. “But we're still in the beginning stages, despite the fact that the investigation itself has been going on for so long. … We've got a long ways to go before justice is done in these cases.”
