State and federal authorities on Wednesday announced the arrest of six people involved in what they called a “large-scale criminal enterprise” that involved seven different robberies, 11 stolen vehicles and a pair of shootings.

The suspects were indicted by a grand jury on 54 counts including charges related to identity theft, forgery, aggravated motor vehicle theft, aggravated robbery and attempted murder, according to the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

The Aurora Police Department, the Colorado Department of Revenue and the FBI have been working on the case since August 2021, following a car crash involving two suspects and a stolen vehicle.

What started as a string of identity thefts led to fraudulently bought cars from dealerships and armed robberies, said John Kellner, the district attorney for the 18th Judicial District, during a news conference Wednesday.

“What particularly angered me about this case is the progression from property crime, auto theft and identity theft, but eventually led to people in my town and people in the other portions of the region actually being physically threatened with harm because of these robberies,” said Daniel Oates, Aurora’s interim police chief, during the news conference.

The case is being brought under the Colorado Organized Crime Act.

The group would steal Denver residents’ identifications and use them to buy high-end cars from dealerships with fraudulent loans, police said. They would then use those cars to carry out other crimes such as robberies and aggravated assaults, officials said.

“We will continue to investigate this group and identify any other people associated with this group,” Kellner said. “If they’re still out there.”

Source: Read Full Article