FOX31 Denver

Tesla cameras capture thieves in garage break-in spree

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. (KDVR) — A brazen pair of crooks broke into a number of garages in a Greenwood Village community and a Tesla caught them in the act.

Along the cul de sacs of Coral Place, neighbors are wondering if they’ll be next.

“You read about it on social media, but when it really hits home, that’s when you need to take all these extra measures,” Raj Harika said. “It can happen to anybody, including us.”

Harika and her family were sleeping on the night of Monday, March 21, when their locked car in the driveway was broken into.

“The window glass was broken in, and then they had stolen the garage fob, and that’s how they entered the garage,” Harika said.

The crooks broke into a car with the Harikas’ camera-covered Tesla inside capturing it all. Footage shows one brown-haired, younger man in a vibrant, patterned sweatshirt and a mask half down trying to see if the Tesla is unlocked. His partner in crime wore a black hooded sweatshirt and a mask as he rummaged through the Harikas’ cabinets in the garage and found nothing worthy of stealing.

“It’s like, how dare you kind of feeling and still you feel scared, like no place is safe, not even in my home,” Harika said. 

After alerting neighbors, Harika learned her garage wasn’t the only one raided.

“The exact same thing in three different houses, breaking in the car, taking the fob and going in the garage and then trying to find a car which is unlocked and preferably has a key inside,” she said. 

A neighbor’s home captured the getaway car going back and forth and stopping to break into cars over a two-hour period starting at 1 a.m. Tuesday morning. Harika believes the suspects were driving a white Toyota Highlander. 

“That’s when we knew that it’s a kind of a serial attempt to steal, it’s not just the targeting one house,” she said. “If you seen the jacket on the suspect, you remember it. They are young guys, I’m sure you see them in your neighborhood. Please spot them and report them because they are probably doing this in neighborhoods every night.”

Greenwood Village Police shared the following statement about the spree:

“On March 22, 2022, at approximately 7:35 AM, the Greenwood Village Police Department investigated a homeowner’s report that one of their vehicles had been broken into and a second vehicle stolen the previous night. The crimes occurred in the Coral Place neighborhood near E. Belleview Avenue and S. Yosemite Street. While canvassing the neighborhood and processing the crime scene, investigators discovered two additional vehicle trespasses had occurred overnight in the same neighborhood. This is an active investigation with no additional information presently available for release.”