JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — A man was arrested in Jefferson County while trying to get in a Lyft shortly after allegedly breaking into vehicles, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday.
Around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, several deputies responded to West Rice Avenue after someone called about a man breaking into a car. When the caller confronted the man, he ran away.
The man was described as carrying a backpack and wearing a yellow hoodie.
Deputies searched the neighborhood, which is near the intersection of Quincy Avenue and Kipling Street. They could not find the suspect.
About 30 minutes later, a Lyft driver entered the neighborhood, pulled up to an intersection, stopped and turned on the car’s emergency flashers. Deputy J. Allen spoke with the Lyft driver, who said he was trying to pick up a man named Adam, but no one was there.
“Deputy Allen then drove a short distance away, turned off his lights and waited. Sure enough, one minute later, a man emerged from the overgrown nearby bushes and got into the vehicle,” the sheriff’s office said on its Facebook page.
Deputy Allen then drove up to the car and spoke with the passenger. He was sweaty, carrying a backpack and wearing a yellow hoodie.
“Despite denying he had broken into any vehicles, numerous items that had been stolen out of vehicles were found on his person as well as a knife and drug paraphernalia,” the sheriff’s office said.
The suspect, Adam J. Vultaggio, 27, was arrested and booked into a Jefferson County jail.