Four South American nationals have been charged with burglary after they allegedly used construction equipment to cut through the walls of two Aspen businesses to break into a luxury watch store.
The men from Peru, Argentina and Chile were arrested in Vail on Nov. 11 and may be connected to a “South American Theft Gang” in which people enter the U.S. on short-term visas, create webs of false identities and target high-end retail stores, Aspen police said in an arrest affidavit.
Aspen police officers responded to a shopping complex in the 600 block of East Cooper Avenue just before midnight on Nov. 10 after a burglary alarm went off at the Avi & Co watch store.
Officers initially didn’t find anything out of place, but, when a second burglary alarm went off in the watch store around 1:30 a.m., police noticed a ladder inside the art gallery next door had been moved and began investigating.
Investigators discovered someone had cut holes through the drywall of a vacant restaurant to get into the art gallery and cut through the art gallery walls to get into the back room of Avi & Co., where they unsuccessfully tried to pry open a safe, according to the affidavit.
This is the third burglary spree under investigation in Colorado this month.
Deputies in Arapahoe County are investigating a series of “dinner-time burglaries” where thieves stole about $1 million in jewelry, designer purses, cash and safes from multi-million dollar homes while the families were away.
Most of the Arapahoe County burglaries happened on Fridays between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., police said. Two to four suspects worked together to break through a home’s exterior glass door and go through closets, dressers and bathrooms for valuables
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office also put out a warning this month about a high-tech burglary ring targeting Asian homes.
In Douglas County, burglars have specifically targeted the homes of Asians who own businesses, sheriff’s officials said. The group has cut alarm system cables, jammed wireless internet signals to disable security cameras and made away with roughly $1 million in cash, jewelry and luxury items.
Sheriff’s officials said the ring, which is believed to operate across the United States, may also be part of the South American Theft Gang linked to the Aspen burglary.
Officers found construction equipment left in the gallery, including rotary hammers, Sawzall saws and a cutting torch. Investigators also found extensive damage to the businesses, including cut or ripped-out electrical wires and equipment, black spray paint over security cameras and spray foam over doors and sensors.
Aspen police had stopped a “suspicious” car for speeding earlier in the night that was carrying six people and packed with new construction equipment, according to the affidavit. The men told officers they drove from Glenwood Springs to go to a steakhouse – but the restaurant they named, Hickory House, was not a steakhouse and they’d already driven past it.
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Police put out an alert for the vehicle, and hours later learned four men were arrested in Vail in the same vehicle for allegedly stealing jackets from a high-end clothing store.
There’s a pattern of people coming to Aspen from out of town to commit crimes, said Aspen Police Department Assistant Chief Bill Linn.
The department aims to communicate well with business owners so they don’t hesitate to report suspicious incidents, he added.
The four men face charges including burglary, attempted theft, criminal mischief and conspiracy to commit theft, which are all felonies. They are in custody on cash-only bail and are set to appear in court later in December.
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