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El Paso County District Attorney Michael Allen Announces Run for Colorado Attorney General
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

El Paso County District Attorney Michael Allen Announces Run for Colorado Attorney General

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice District Attorney of El Paso County Michael J. Allen has declared his intention to run for attorney general in Colorado. Allen served in the Navy and is in his second term as district attorney for Colorado’s Fourth Judicial District. His announcement comes as the state grapples with rising auto theft, higher insurance costs, and continued overdose deaths.Allen framed the decision as a gradual one. Allen framed the decision as a gradual one. “It was a long time coming to make the decision,” Allen said. “I’ve had people reaching out to me really starting January of 2025 — both statewide, local folks, and then even national folks — trying to talk me into running.” For Allen, the question was not simp...
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Phil Weiser’s Failed Experiment in Criminal Justice
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Phil Weiser’s Failed Experiment in Criminal Justice

By Mike O’Donnell | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice  It has become a common theme in many states and cities that the authorities who are responsible for the long-term safety and security of their residents, nevertheless subscribe to the popular fallacy that locking up criminals does little to deter future offenses and is less effective in the long run that social programs or rehabilitation efforts, however those might be defined.  The theory here is that criminals aren’t responsible for their actions, Society is primarily to blame.  The policies of Colorado’s attorney general, Phil Weiser, and the Democrat dominated Colorado legislature prove how foolish and misguided this theory is.  In 2019, the Colorado legislature eliminated the option of cash bail for...
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Colorado’s auto theft reckoning: A crisis we built, a crisis we can fix
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s auto theft reckoning: A crisis we built, a crisis we can fix

By RMV Editorial Board Colorado didn’t become the nation’s auto theft capital by accident. It got there through a decade of choices that treated working families’ cars like disposable assets. Lawmakers downgraded the theft of “low-value” vehicles to a low-level offense and sold it as reform. They never explained the part where families would carry the cost. Criminals understood the message right away. If the state didn’t take these thefts seriously, why would the offenders?  The surge pushed Colorado to No. 1 in auto theft back in 2021 and we didn’t fall far—No. 2 in 2023 and No. 4 in 2024—as neighborhoods kept paying the price in lost time and tighter budgets. State Patrol signals a shift What says more than any statistic is what the state is doing now. In a recent sta...
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Is Rep. Marshall’s narrow 2024 win now at risk in Douglas County?
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Is Rep. Marshall’s narrow 2024 win now at risk in Douglas County?

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Rep. Bob Marshall (D-HD43) represents one of Colorado’s most politically mixed suburban districts, covering parts of Highlands Ranch and Littleton. The area is built around families, good schools, and a long-standing belief in local control and fiscal restraint. Marshall often calls himself a centrist Democrat and a retired Marine who puts people before politics. But his voting record at the Capitol tells a different story.  Marshall once appealed to a wide mix of voters. Whether that still holds is an open question, especially given how much the mood in Douglas County has changed. Prices have climbed. Crime feels closer. And faith in state leaders is wearing thin. Out of Douglas County’s 323,000 regist...
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Castle tow truck driver receives 16 year prison sentence for auto theft scheme
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DENVER7, Approved, Local

Castle tow truck driver receives 16 year prison sentence for auto theft scheme

By Sydney Isenberg | DENVER 7 The 23rd Judicial DA's Office confirmed to Denver7 that sexual exploitation of a child/possession of child sexual abuse material charges against Brian Chacon were dropped as part of a plea deal. DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. — A Castle Rock tow truck driver was sentenced to 16 years in prison for orchestrating an auto theft scheme that spanned across the Denver metro area. The Douglas County Sheriff's Office said its investigation began in December 2023 after a detective with the Auto Theft Unit was assigned a stolen vehicle case. The detective later learned that the case may be related to several incidents involving Eagle Wing Towing. According to the 23rd Judicial District Attorney's Office, between April 2023 and February 2024, Brian Chacon, 34, owner o...
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$170K in stolen vehicles recovered, 4 arrested in Utah–Colorado theft ring
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Approved, kdvr.com, National, State

$170K in stolen vehicles recovered, 4 arrested in Utah–Colorado theft ring

By Heather Willard | Fox31 DENVER (KDVR) — The Garfield County Sheriff’s Office announced that four people were arrested last week for multiple automobile thefts that crossed the Colorado and Utah border. On April 15, Colorado and Utah law enforcement agencies were able to identify a suspect vehicle in eastern Utah. Law enforcement believed the suspects would return to Colorado in the early hours of April 16 with stolen vehicles. Law enforcement said they believe the suspects have used this tactic several times previously. On April 16, the Colorado State Patrol, Mesa County Sheriff’s Office and members of Special Problem Enforcement and Response, a multi-jurisdictional task force based out of Garfield County, located the suspect vehicles entering Colorado. Officers initi...
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Colorado crime and Aurora’s experience with auto theft  
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Approved, Common Sense Institute, Local

Colorado crime and Aurora’s experience with auto theft  

By Common Sense Institute Colorado’s crime rate is not back to its pre-pandemic level. Both local and state authorities are currently attempting to find policy solutions.  Some localities have created policies and procedures that go beyond state guidelines in an effort to control crime. The City of Aurora implemented mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines for auto theft in 2022, for example, the year that Colorado’s and Aurora’s auto theft rates were highest. This policy led to a decrease in the auto theft rate in the city beyond what was seen statewide. In 2023, state lawmakers tried to address auto theft with passage of SB23-097. This bill did not implement mandatory minimum sentences, but instead made it a felony to commit auto theft regardless of the value of the vehicle. T...
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Sen. Rod Pelton asks Colorado lawmakers to ‘crack down on crime in this state’
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Sen. Rod Pelton asks Colorado lawmakers to ‘crack down on crime in this state’

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice The odds might not be ever in your favor in Colorado that if you operate a motor vehicle here, it won't be stolen at some point. A case made Friday by Cheyenne Wells Sen. Rod Pelton is a family from Wray on the distant Eastern Plains, near the state line shared with Nebraska. The family, from Cory Gardner Country in Yuma County, had traveled to Denver on Thursday, but had difficulty returning home. "They were up here enjoying a good time at state wrestling and their car was stolen," he said. Wray is a town of about 2,400 with a crime rate nearly four times lower than the average. Extrapolating FBI data from 2019-2023, Newsweek reports auto theft per capita is highest in Colorado among all states. That FBI data also details auto theft ha...
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Auto thefts down statewide, but still remain high, State Patrol says
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Approved, kdvr.com, State

Auto thefts down statewide, but still remain high, State Patrol says

By Rachel Saurer | Fox 31 News Colorado State Patrol shared an encouraging look at auto theft numbers statewide. The number of cars being stolen has dropped to the lowest it has been since 2020. “In 2023, we saw a 20-plus percent reduction over 2022. And this year in 2024, we are trending for further decreases from last year. An additional 20 percent or more depending on how this last month or so goes,” said Cale Gould, public outreach coordinator, Colorado Auto Theft Prevention Authority with CSP. Gould said there are many factors contributing to this decrease to include owners taking accountability for their vehicles and the state passing legislation to further criminalize motor vehicle theft and provide more funding. READ THE FULL STORY AT FOX 31 NEWS
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Are laws cracking down on car theft responsible for downward trend in Colorado?
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Are laws cracking down on car theft responsible for downward trend in Colorado?

By Thelma Grimes | Colorado Politics Colorado found itself atop most lists of states with the highest car thefts and associated crimes in the last several years — record-breaking numbers that had been accumulating since 2020 and which put pressure on the governor and legislators to respond. Notably, lawmakers, upon the urging of the governor, passed a law that made all car thefts a felony, decoupling the severity of the crime from the value of the car and tying it instead to behavior so that the penalty becomes more severe with repeat offenders.      But lawmakers haven't introduced a lot of bills devoted to auto theft this year. Is that because the laws enacted are working? READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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