DENVER (KDVR) — The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office Wednesday morning executed nine search warrants after an 18-month investigation of an alleged criminal enterprise that committed crimes in 25 Colorado jurisdictions, resulting in the arrest of five people.
One person remains at large. The 20th Judicial District Attorney’s Office said that the crime ring is responsible for over $828,880 in stolen property and $39,880 in damaged property, impacting more than 55 victims.
County officials said on Wednesday morning that the nine search warrants were part of a “grand jury investigation,” and on Wednesday afternoon, officials said that a crime ring that targeted the Front Range had been brought to a “halt.”
The Boulder County District Attorney’s Office announced the indictment of four adults for violations of the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act, alongside other charges, and the indictment of two other people for “lesser offenses.”
“Today, a massive crime ring has been brought to a screeching halt,” said District Attorney Michael Dougherty in a press conference held on Wednesday afternoon. “They were responsible for 190 open cases. Twenty-five different jurisdictions were victimized by their actions. Nearly $1 million in loss and damage. This indictment of six individuals — to say this was the culmination of a tremendous amount of work by investigators, but to also say that a crime ring that was harming dozens and dozens of people throughout the metro area, up and down the Front Range, has been brought to a stop is also true.”
Officials: Members stole cars, used them in other burglaries
The 20th Judicial District Attorney’s Office said that the crime ring worked together to steal cars and take them to a chop shop. The stolen cars were re-titled with fraudulent papers and registered to a business, MMZ International LLC., which members of the crime ring ran.
The district attorney’s office said that the stolen cars were then used to burglarize garages and break into cars throughout the Front Range. The ring’s members would enter into cars in the early morning hours and steal wallets, purses, backpacks and garage door openers.
The garage door openers were then used to facilitate more thefts, according to the indictment.
The district attorney’s office said that the ring members would arm themselves with bear spray and use it if met with resistance.
The prosecutors said that in one case inside a garage, the ring was targeting high-end bicycles. After they stole the bikes, they took any stolen debit and credit cards to large retail stores and bought gift cards.
The bikes were taken to a secondary location where they were loaded into a van, taken to Mexico and resold.
The prosecution also said that the enterprise had distribution-level amounts of methamphetamine. The district attorney’s office said that efforts to arrest members by various law enforcement agencies resulted in high-speed chases.
Suspects named, search warrant locations shared
The people named in the indictment shared Wednesday, and the bonds they are facing are:
- Adrian Martinez, 33; cash, surety or property bond of $500,000
- Chloe Martinez, 28; cash, surety or property bond of $100,000
- Ryan See, 31; cash, surety or property bond of $100,000
- Carlos Marquez, 26; cash or surety bond of $2,500
- Lorena Marquez-Perez, 51; cash or surety bond of $2,500
Suspect Kimberly Salas, 30, remains at large.
The sheriff’s office announced the operation in a Facebook post, saying the warrant executions began at 7 a.m. in unincorporated Boulder and Adams Counties, and the cities of Denver, Westminster, Wheat Ridge, Federal Heights and Johnstown. The sheriff’s office identified more than 20 law enforcement agencies involved in the operation, including drug task forces and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is not involved in the operation, according to the sheriff’s office. The sheriff’s office said that during Wednesday’s operations, no one was injured and there is no threat to the public.
The search warrants were for seven residences and two storage lockers, according to the sheriff’s office.
An additional warrant was written and was being executed on Wednesday in Johnstown for an additional storage locker. The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office said that new evidence was found on Wednesday that is expected to further the investigation.
During the execution of one of the search warrants, officers located a suspected improvised explosive device. The warrant service was paused and the Adams County Sheriff’s Office Bomb Squad was called to render the device safe.
Here are the locations of the search warrants:
- 14000 block of N. Pecos St., unincorporated Adams County
- 3500 block of W. 64th, unincorporated Adams County
- 16000 block of 104th, unincorporated Adams County
- 15000 block of Huron St., unincorporated Adams County
- 3500 block of E. 160th, unincorporated Adams County
- 3700 block of Owens St., Wheat Ridge
- 8900 block of Federal Blvd., Federal Heights
- 400 block of Gateway Dr., Johnstown
- 2100 block of 21st, unincorporated Boulder County.
“These efforts were coordinated and planned to be executed safely and professionally,” the sheriff’s office said.
Neighbors recall yelling, trio of handcuffed people
FOX31’s Courtney Fromm was at an Adams County location, where neighbors early Wednesday morning described the warrant execution that also included Commerce City police SWAT teams.
“We heard the police yell they were there on a search warrant and that everyone needed to exit the house,” Gabby, a neighbor in Commerce City told Fromm. “We saw three people get handcuffed. They let the first guy go, then they arrested a lady and let her go, and then there was a third gentleman they put in the back of the car.”
Gabby told Fromm there was a drone searching at the same time and that they had heard disturbances from the residence before.
“My brother heard some disturbance back there a few weeks ago with two people arguing,” Gabby said. “It’s scary if that is what is going on back there. It’s hard to speculate, but I guess we will find out.”
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