DENVER — One car per hour. That's how many vehicles are stolen on average in the City of Denver every day.
Denver has seen one of the country's largest increases in auto theft since the COVID-19 pandemic started, with the number of reported stolen cars more than doubling.
Through June 19 of this year, 5,923 vehicles were stolen in Denver, compared with 2,547 from the same period in 2020, according to the Colorado Metropolitan Auto Task Force (C-MATT).
“We are seeing a significant and alarming rise in the number of motor vehicle thefts in Denver,” said District Attorney Beth McCann.
New C-MATT numbers show that 21,973 vehicles were reported stolen in statewide this year through the end of June. More than 75% of those, or 15,973, were taken from the streets of the Denver metro area.
Those numbers put the metro area and the state on track to outpace last year's unprecedented auto theft numbers. In all of 2021, 36,907 vehicles were stolen statewide, with 27,409 of those in the Denver metro area, according to C-MATT.
“People are feeling frustrated, losing jobs, economic insecurity and rising prices," McCann said. "People are angry, acting out.”
The Denver District Attorney's Office said it filed 900 cases of motor vehicle theft in 2021. Those cases included one or more charges of auto theft. Over the same period, 360 cases resulted in a conviction or guilty plea.
In 2020, the DA's Office filed 698 auto theft cases and secured 374 convictions or guilty pleas.
Through June 13 of this year, the DA's Office filed 459 cases and secured 45 convictions or guilty pleas.
More than 1,000 Denver auto theft cases dating back to 2020 are still open.
“We are prosecuting the cases," McCann said. "I understand the frustration because there is a lot of auto theft going on. But as you can see, we've been filing, and our case filings are way up for motor vehicle theft. And we do prosecute them every day in court."
McCann said that some auto theft suspects who are being granted bail should be held to higher custody conditions based on their criminal history but that those decisions come down to the courts.
“The judge ultimately decides how to sentence someone, whether to put them on probation or fine them or put them in jail,” she said.
Her office focuses on large criminal rings that she believes fuel the auto theft.
“I believe that focusing on some of these larger organizations and hitting them with very serious charges, sends a message and takes a lot of them out of operation,” she said.
In May, the Denver DA's Office charged 11 people accused of stealing more than 100 cars totaling about $3 million.
City of Denver auto theft numbers for the past four years, through June 19 of each year, according to C-MATT:
- 2019: 2,168
- 2020: 2,547
- 2021: 4,849
- 2022: 5,923
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