6 accused of traveling from California to steal $1.1 million in construction equipment

BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — Six men were indicted and accused of participating in an organized enterprise to steal over $1.1 million in construction equipment from 39 sites across the Denver metro area.

According to a press release from the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office, the men came to Colorado from California several times. During the trips, investigators say the group would often scout construction sites during the day and come back to steal specialty tools and construction equipment at night.

“This crime ring traveled to Colorado for the purpose of breaking into construction sites and stealing equipment,” District Attorney Michael Dougherty said. “Their actions had an incredibly disruptive impact on the construction companies as well as the owners of the sites.”

Law enforcement began investigating after two burglaries at construction sites in Lafayette in October 2021. Data gathered from search warrants indicated members of the group were at both construction sites during the burglaries, according to the release.

The construction sites they are accused of stealing from were in Monument, Aurora, Broomfield, Northglenn, Denver, Greeley, Fort Collins, Firestone, Arvada, Loveland, Brighton, Lafayette, Commerce City, Boulder County, Jefferson County, Larimer County and Douglas County.

Later, investigators say more data was gathered that connected them to similar burglaries across Colorado. All six men have been arrested and were held in California.

In addition to the over $1.1 million stolen, the group is accused of causing significant property damage at some of the construction sites, which totaled over $27,000.

The men were indicted on violations of the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act, “for engaging in a pattern of racketeering activity” as a group, among other counts: