GOLDEN, Colo. — Golden police are now linking one of their vehicle theft cases to Quin Scaggs. The teenager spent two months on the run after breaking out of the Lookout Mountain Youth Services Center in June. He was arrested this week in Colorado Springs, and now Golden police confirm they have DNA evidence linking Scaggs to a stolen car in Golden.
About 3 a.m. on June 25, Brandon Bortles heard a loud noise outside his Golden home. He looked out his window and saw his Mazda SUV being stolen.
“I knew my car was being stolen, so I ran out to maybe chase it down,” Bortles said.
The thief got away. Perhaps it was a crime of opportunity, since Bortles left his window down. However, that was just hours after 17-year-old Scaggs broke out of the Lookout Mountain Youth Services Center by tying bed sheets together and climbing out his window.
Bortles lives about two miles away from the detention center.
“I think that everyone was on alert, and immediately suspected it was this kid,” Bortles said.
The stolen Mazda was found the next day in a parking lot in Lakewood’s Belmar neighborhood. The back window was smashed out.
Over the weekend, he allegedly robbed two hotels in Colorado Springs, striking employees with a handgun. He was arrested Monday.
Bortles is relieved, and has this advice for others.
“Be diligent about the little things, even if you live in a quiet neighborhood or a small town. Lock up your vehicle, don’t invite crimes,” Bortles said.
Golden police say charges will be filed in the stolen vehicle case and the escape case through the district attorney’s Office.