Serial thieves stole cars at DIA, got arrested, bonded out and started stealing again
9Wants to Know investigated the case of Jordan Eull and Dezirae Moyer that shows the limitations of the justice system in stopping motor vehicle thefts.
Chapter 1 11 cars stolen in less than a year
Late on a Thursday afternoon last August, two car thieves backed a stolen BMW into a parking spot at Park Meadows Mall and went to work – walking around, glancing at shoppers, checking out a Ford pickup parked across the aisle.
Less than eight minutes later, Jordan Eull drove away in that F-250. His partner, Dezirae Moyer, got back in the stolen BMW and followed him out of the parking lot.
It was the seventh motor vehicle theft linked to Eull and Moyer, according to court documents, police reports and surveillance and body camera video obtained by 9Wants to Know.
In all, they would be linked to 11 stolen cars in a little less than a year, a 9Wants to Know investigation found.
All of it unfolded amid a historic surge in auto thefts – they jumped 23% in 2021 in Colorado and are trending higher so far this year – that left victims frustrated and illustrated the criminal justice system’s limitations when it comes to stopping motor vehicle thefts.
“I just wouldn't wish this on anybody,” said Terri Finney, whose Audi was stolen by Eull and Moyer while it was parked at Denver International Airport (DIA). “It's way worse than I ever expected that a stolen car would feel. It's such a violation.”
Eull, 24, is in prison for some of his crimes and is awaiting sentencing in others. He did not respond to a letter sent to him by 9Wants to Know. Moyer, out on probation, could not be reached.
Chapter 2 Thefts at DIA
The partners were first arrested March 3, 2021, in a DIA parking garage. By that point, investigators had linked them to five stolen cars, including Finney’s.
Finney had parked at the airport as she embarked on a weekend trip to Phoenix. When she returned, her Audi was gone.
“I come home, I don't have a car,” Finney said.
Airport surveillance footage captured Finney’s car returning to the airport the next day. Investigators believe the thieves loaded it with loot taken from other cars they broke into.
That same weekend, Renee Cramsey and her boyfriend took a trip to Ohio, and when they returned, her BMW was not where she had parked it.
“I knew I parked there, and I couldn’t find my car,” she said.
After searching for hours, she went home. Then she and her boyfriend returned to the airport to look some more.
In a newer section of a parking garage, they found her car – engine running, lights on, a woman in the passenger seat, a man standing next to it – right next to Finney’s Audi.
The thieves jumped into the Audi.
“There's a bunch of yelling going on,” Cramsey said. “And then they squeal the tires, go out of the airport.”
Airport cameras captured Finney’s car as it left the airport, its trunk still up.
Investigators think the thieves stole Cramsey’s car and moved it to the parking garage where she found it.
The week after those incidents, Denver Police officers, tipped off to a suspicious vehicle in an airport parking garage, surrounded Eull and Moyer, and arrested them.
Police linked them to car thefts in Aurora and Loveland, in addition to the cars taken at DIA, according to court documents obtained by 9Wants to Know.
Chapter 3 Innocent until proven guilty
A judge set bail at $2,000 each for Eull and Moyer. They walked out of jail the same day – a source of frustration for Finney.
But locking up suspected car thieves is not as simple as it sounds, according to G. Matthews, a former prosecutor who is now a criminal defense attorney.
“Folks are innocent until proven guilty,” he said. “Folks are … oftentimes entitled to a bond as part of their constitutional rights.”
Jail beds are finite resources, he said.
“You think about folks who commit domestic violence, folks that commit child abuse, folks that commit violent crimes, folks who use weapons,” Matthews said. “Most of society has kind of agreed … we want to keep them secluded or sequestered.”
A few months after Eull and Moyer were freed came the theft of the BMW and then the pickup at Park Meadows Mall.
Then a Hyundai in Broomfield and another in Westminster, a Jeep and then a KIA in Denver.
Eull was at the wheel of that KIA on Jan. 13 when he returned to Park Meadows Mall with a stolen wallet and credit cards taken in a car break-in. Moyer was not with him that day. A friend was.
According to court documents and surveillance video, Eull made purchases at stores in the mall using those stolen credit cards.
What he didn’t know was that the credit card alerts and a chip in the wallet alerted the rightful owner, and he and two others headed to the mall and found Eull.
After a chase through the store, they tackled Eull and waited for the police, who made the arrest.
In May, 18th Judicial District Judge Patricia Herron sentenced Eull to 5½ years in prison after he pleaded guilty to eight charges stemming from his crimes in Douglas County. In a series of deals, 21 other counts were dismissed.
He’s awaiting sentencing in Denver, where he struck deals in which he pleaded guilty to aggravated motor vehicle theft and identity theft, and in Broomfield, where in another deal he pleaded guilty to aggravated motor vehicle theft, eluding and driving while ability impaired by alcohol.
Moyer agreed to her own deal in Denver, pleading guilty to aggravated motor vehicle theft. She pleaded guilty to the same charge in Douglas County in another deal with prosecutors, and to criminal possession of a financial transaction device in Broomfield.
In all three cases, the judges gave her probation.
But that could soon change: Moyer is due back in Denver District Court on Aug. 5 to face allegations that she violated the conditions of her parole when she committed the crimes in Douglas County and Broomfield.
Chapter 4 'Problems with our judicial system'
The fact that Moyer got probation, and that some of Eull’s cases are still in process, bothered Finney and Cramsey.
“It makes me furious that that she's on probation,” Finney said.
“I just feel like there's some problems with our judicial system,” Cramsey said.
Matthews, the defense attorney, said he understands those emotions.
“When you're a victim of a crime – you know, your car is stolen – it's personal, you feel violated,” he said. “It causes a tremendous hassle, stress and heartache."
He also said it’s not realistic to expect the criminal justice system to heal victims.
“If we're looking for something where everybody feels good in the end, that's not the reality of humans interacting,” Matthews said.
Contact 9Wants to Know investigator Kevin Vaughan with tips about this or any story: kevin.vaughan@9news.com or 303-871-1862.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Investigations & Crime