Julia Carter, a brand new mother, had her automobile stolen in lower than half-hour whereas she went inside an Aurora Walmart for child method.
“I had my daughter’s automobile seat in there, her stroller. Stroll out, and the automobile’s gone. I nearly had a panic assault,” she mentioned.
Carter’s story is one shared by many throughout the Denver metro space.
“Automotive thefts are considerably growing. It’s prolific, troublesome,” mentioned Lakewood Police Cmdr. Mike Greenwell, who leads the Colorado Metropolitan Auto Theft Activity Power (CMATT). “No matter we’re doing isn’t working.”
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Colorado is notoriously No. 1 within the nation for automobile thefts, with extra vehicles stolen per capita than some other state within the nation, in accordance with the Nationwide Insurance coverage Crime Bureau.
“We’re outranking California at this level,” Greenwell mentioned.
Denver7 Investigates dug into the information supplied by CMATT and located automobile thefts are up 173% up to now three years and there are particular sizzling spots the place vehicles are more likely to be stolen.
Auto Theft Scorching Spots within the Denver Metro
Knowledge evaluation uncovered 5 key sizzling spots and one frequent denominator with all of them. Thieves prefer to steal vehicles from residence complexes and enormous parking garages.
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“As a result of there’s a bigger focus of automobiles. There’s much less chance that somebody goes to see them,” Greenwell mentioned.
The primary sizzling spot the information uncovered is round Sloan’s Lake in Denver, the place there’s a heavy focus of residence complexes. Within the first 4 months of 2022, 117 vehicles had been stolen from this space.
Denver7 Investigates
Within the first 4 months of 2022, 117 vehicles had been stolen from the Sloan’s Lake space.
Decrease Downtown between 14th St. and nineteenth St. additionally confirmed up as a sizzling spot. Right here, once more, there are loads of parking garages and greater than 100 vehicles stolen in the identical time-frame.
Denver Worldwide Airport and the motels round Tower Highway are additionally prime targets for automobile thieves. One-hundred 5 vehicles had been stolen from January to April of this yr.
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“Six miles across the airport has at all times been considerably of a hotspot,” Greenwell mentioned.
Denver7 Investigates
Parking tons for Denver Worldwide Airport have turn out to be a chief goal for automobile thieves.
Denver Police Division knowledge reveals auto theft experiences at DIA have greater than doubled up to now three years.
“And the rationale for that’s thieves now know that loads of our unsuspecting victims drive to those motels, drive to the airport, and so they’re gone for greater than 24 hours,” Greenwell mentioned.
Lakewood’s Belmar Buying Heart can also be close to the highest of the checklist for motorized vehicle thefts, with 81, as does Aurora’s Metropolis Heart, the place 56 vehicles have been snatched since January.
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Auto thefts in Denver and Colorado | 360 In-Depth dives into the numbers
“We’ve got fewer individuals going to jail for auto theft,” Greenwell mentioned. “There’s no ramifications to the auto thief for stealing that automobile.”
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Greenwell mentioned lawmakers have watered down the penalties for auto theft and allowed the criminals who’re caught to stroll inside days, if not hours, of being arrested. Catalytic converter thefts have additionally turn out to be a large drawback within the metro space.
MORE:As automobile thefts explode in Colorado, Aurora compelled to drag officers from statewide auto theft activity drive
“We’ve got one suspect that we talked with, and he mentioned he steals anyplace from one to 10 vehicles a day as a result of he can,” he mentioned.
Greenwell is asking on lawmakers to behave and forestall Coloradans from being victimized. An Aurora Metropolis Councilman just lately launched an ordinance to create obligatory jail time for motorized vehicle theft.
Victims take issues into their very own arms
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Victims like Carter, pissed off with the police response, have turned to the general public Fb web page known as Colorado Stolen Vehicles to seek out her lacking Hyundai.
“If it wasn’t for that web page, I don’t assume my automobile would have been discovered. That web page is doing a lot for the neighborhood,” Carter mentioned.
MORE: Catalytic converter thefts: What vehicles are being focused, the place it is taking place, & how one can defend your self
With the assistance of the Fb web page, Carter discovered her automobile in Denver, miles away from the Walmart the place it was stolen.
“You by no means assume your automobile goes to get stolen till it truly occurs to you,” she mentioned.
Cleveland Cavaliers (26-4, first in the Eastern Conference) vs. Denver Nuggets (16-11, fifth in the Western Conference)
Denver; Friday, 9 p.m. EST
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BOTTOM LINE: Cleveland will attempt to keep its five-game win streak alive when the Cavaliers take on Denver.
The Nuggets are 8-4 on their home court. Denver leads the Western Conference with 20.3 fast break points led by Christian Braun averaging 4.8.
The Cavaliers are 9-3 in road games. Cleveland ranks fourth in the Eastern Conference scoring 50.7 points per game in the paint led by Evan Mobley averaging 12.2.
The 119.8 points per game the Nuggets score are 9.6 more points than the Cavaliers give up (110.2). The Cavaliers average 16.1 made 3-pointers per game this season, 2.2 more made shots on average than the 13.9 per game the Nuggets allow.
TOP PERFORMERS: Nikola Jokic is averaging 30.9 points, 12.5 rebounds, 9.7 assists and 1.7 steals for the Nuggets.
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Mobley is scoring 18.5 points per game and averaging 9.0 rebounds for the Cavaliers.
LAST 10 GAMES: Nuggets: 6-4, averaging 123.2 points, 45.8 rebounds, 33.6 assists, 9.5 steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 52.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 117.2 points per game.
Cavaliers: 9-1, averaging 120.7 points, 44.8 rebounds, 29.2 assists, 8.9 steals and 3.6 blocks per game while shooting 48.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 105.5 points.
INJURIES: Nuggets: Aaron Gordon: day to day (calf), DaRon Holmes II: out for season (achilles), Vlatko Cancar: out (knee).
Cavaliers: Emoni Bates: out (knee), Isaac Okoro: out (shoulder), Dean Wade: day to day (knee).
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___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
GEORGETOWN, Colo. — The Colorado State Patrol said the “best option” is to remain in Denver amid winter weather that’s impacting roadways in the mountains.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the agency said westbound Interstate 70 is closed at Georgetown due to unsafe conditions between Georgetown and the Palmer Divide.
There is limited lodging and parking in Clear Creek County, according to CSP. The agency said the “best option is to stay in Denver.” It is unclear when the roadway will reopen.
Eastbound I-70 traffic was held at the Eisenhower Tunnel due to a crash just east of the tunnel, according to CSP. The roadway has since reopened.
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This is a developing story and will be updated.
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If you find yourself in a Christmas chariot this week, perhaps a pair of Broncos will be carrying it.
Denver inside linebacker Alex Singleton and kicker Wil Lutz looked like pros over the weekend at the Colorado Ballet’s performance of “The Nutcracker.”
The duo made brief appearances in the ballet’s rendition of the Christmas classic on Sunday night at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House downtown.
They carried out a chariot with a ballet dancer inside at the start of the Arabian Dance. Then they stood on the stage and posed for a minute before their appearance was finished.
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It lasted, Singleton told The Denver Post, maybe two minutes.
And it was nerve-wracking.
“Oh yeah,” Singleton said on Tuesday. “I didn’t know what to do. But it was kind of funny, we just stood there.”
The whole thing came about because the Broncos and the Colorado Ballet each have Dr. James Genuario on their medical staff.
That helped clear the path for Singleton, who is on injured reserve after tearing his ACL in September, to participate.
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“That was my first question: Can I do it? And he was like, ‘Yeah, you’ll be fine,’” Singleton said. “I mean, I think the dancer weighed about 80 pounds and the carriage weighed about 10. So I carry more than that every day, which is nice.”
Range of motion is no problem exactly 10 weeks post-operation for Singleton.
“I got to 152 degrees,” he said. “Regular life is normal.”
Performing in a ballet, though, is hardly normal life. Singleton and Lutz had exactly zero advanced prep work for their big debut.
“I think it started at 6:30, we showed up about 6,” Singleton said. “At intermission, before we did it, they showed us how to do it and that was it. We just had to make sure the costumes fit us. … But it was really cool. We got to watch from backstage, meet all the people. It was really cool to see how it all runs and everything.”
Singleton said he was not particularly familiar with “The Nutcracker,” Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet.
“I still don’t know the story,” he said. “We asked a couple of the dancers and they were explaining it to us. So I kind of know that it’s like a dream for the little girl where the Nutcracker comes alive, but that’s about it.”
Singleton, of course, was Denver’s leading tackler the past two years, a captain this fall and was calling Denver’s defense before tearing his ACL in Week 3 at Tampa Bay. The injury happened early in the game, but Singleton played the rest of the game with it before being told the severity of the injury that evening. He had ACL surgery on Oct. 15 in Los Angeles and then returned to spend time around the team and rehabilitate here.
Lutz has been a model of consistency in his second year kicking for the Broncos. Three days before appearing in the show he knocked home a pair of field goals against Los Angeles, including a season-long 55-yarder.
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Lutz is now 29 of 32 for field goals on the season. The only kick of less than 50 yards he’s missed was a game-sealing block by Kansas City in Week 10. Lutz has also made all 38 extra points on the year.
His 90.6% field goal rate is sixth in the NFL among kickers with more than 20 field goal attempts.
On the Colorado Ballet’s social media channels, Singleton gave himself a 7 out of 10 and Lutz an 8 of 10, with the kicker saying he was proud that he didn’t blink once.
In the locker room, at least one teammate was skeptical.
“Oh my god, I had no idea what was going on,” tight end Adam Trautman told The Post. “All they did was pick something up. Now, if they’d have danced or something, that would have been elite. But no chance they can move like that.”
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