LITTLETON, Colo. — The owners of a local car wash need help tracking down the thieves who made off with a piece of their property. It’s a log swing that held sentimental and historic value.
Keith Taylor and his wife, Lisa, have owned Jazz Car Wash & Detailing off of South Santa Fe Drive in Littleton for more than a decade.
Taylor and his employees scrub, vacuum and polish every car that comes in. It’s easy to see that there is a lot of pride at the family-owned business. But early Sunday morning, thieves made off with a cherished piece of their property.
“It was just gone,” Taylor said of the stolen, handcrafted swing.
The swing is made of logs from the Hayman Fire, which tore through the mountains northwest of Colorado Springs in 2002.
“The gentleman who made it, he was able to get some logs from the Hayman Fire and then would clean them up and shellac it and put together this furniture. It was absolutely gorgeous,” Taylor said.
The A-frame swing was 6 feet tall and weighed nearly 600 pounds, so the owner believes the theft had to be planned.
“I think we had to have six guys help us lift it into the back of the truck and then place it down here. It’s a big piece. So whoever did it must have had a large van or full-sized truck or they may have dismantled it.”
And customers, like Jaime Mathis, used to sit in the swing every time she got her car washed.
“While you wait, you can go and relax and swing. It made for a peaceful, lovely, environment. It’s very sad to hear that. Very sorry that someone would do that to a local business,” Mathis said.
Taylor is hopeful the community may be able to help him get the special ‘swing-gate’ back.
“We’ll keep our fingers crossed,” Taylor said.
Unfortunately, the surveillance cameras on the building don’t reach the property line where the swing was located. Taylor is asking anyone with information about this to give him a call at the store: 303-738-8885.