AURORA, Colo — Authorities announced that a group of friends and family members in a "large-scale criminal operation" were indicted.
The 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office said the group participated in a series of events that involved identity theft, forgery operation resulting in multiple fraudulent purchases of luxury vehicles, aggravated motor vehicle theft, and aggravated robberies and burglaries.
On Wednesday, members of the DA's Office, FBI and Aurora Police Department (APD) spoke at a news conference on Wednesday and offered a detailed list of the crimes the suspects are allegedly connected to.
The DA's office said that the investigation into this group began in August 2021 when police responded to a crash involving a Mercedes Benz on S. Buckley and E. Quincy Avenue. Two people inside the vehicle ran from the crash. When police searched the vehicle they found a rifle, a laser for a firearm, and stolen mail that belonged to multiple identity theft victims, the DA's Office said.
Officers investigating the crash also learned that the Mercedes Benz has a fictitious tag on it and the vehicle was registered to one of the ID theft victims.
After the investigation, investigators from the Colorado Department of Revenue (DOR) learned the suspects in the case used stolen identities to buy multiple vehicles using fraudulent loans.
Between June 2021 and July 2022, 11 vehicles were illegally bought using stolen identity, the DA's office said. Some of the vehicles illegally bought included a 2022 Kia Forte, a 2019 Mercedes Bencs GLC, and a 2019 Mazda CX-9.
Investigators said some of the vehicles that were illegally bought were identified as being used in seven aggravated robberies in the Denver and Aurora area in January 2022.
On February 1, 2022, police responded to shots fired call at an apartment complex on E. 13th Place. Witnesses told police said they saw a Mercedes Benz leaving the area, police later identified the vehicle as one of the illegally bought vehicles.
According to the DA's Office, a day after the shooting, a search warrant was issued at an apartment complex for two of the suspects. Police found car keys to stolen vehicles, a distinctive sweatshirt and two hoodies which were seen at many of the aggravated robberies and shootings and personal information from ID theft victims.
On Wednesday morning, the DA's Office announced that Kaile Stevens, Keandre Stevens, Omari Davis, Tavarious Robinson, Jadeen Hollumn, and Emmazetta Chargingcrow were named in a 54-count indictment filed in October 2022.
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