Colorado couple charged with organized crime for stealing and pawning tools
An Adams County man and his girlfriend were recently indicted by a statewide grand jury on racketeering and conspiracy charges, the Colorado Attorney General's Office announced Thursday.
The couple is accused of stealing almost $40,000 in high-end tools from Home Depot stores in five Front Range counties over the span of nine months (from December 2021 to September 2022). They later exchanged the stolen tools for money at several pawn shops in exchange for money.
In total, Mario Hehr, 30, and Alexandra Gaiswinkler, 27, allegedly took 199 items of unpaid merchandise valued at approximately $39,682.84. The brought the majority of those items to one particular pawn shop in Thornton that was named in the indictment. That store, Jumping Jack Cash #4, allegedly paid the couple more than $34,000 for stolen items. It is identified by state prosecutors as a part of the criminal enterprise.
The indictment describes Hehr as the person who walked into Home Depot stores and grabbed one or two large totes or trash bins, severed security ties or cables to tools with a pair of pocket cutters he carried in his pocket, placed the tools in the totes/bins, and walked the collection out of the store. Hehr then loaded the items into a blue and white van which, per the indictment, was registered to Gaiswinkler.
Many of the stolen tools included cordless drills, jig saws, sawzalls, chainsaws, handheld bandsaws, grinders, tree trimmers, hammer drills, and their requisite lithium batteries. According to the indictment, Hehr took $3,285 worth of tools from the Home Depot in Louisville - including a 37-inch rolling toolbox - in one visit.
Home Depot provided state prosecutors with surveillance video from both inside the stores and outside showing Hehr's activity. Hehr wore a mask during the thefts and "would often wear the same shoes and clothes from one theft to the next," the indictment stated. On at least three occasions, an unidentified man accompanied Hehr into and out of the stores and assisted in the thefts.
In May 2022, a Home Depot employee in Morrison witnessed Hehr cutting security ties to tools and confronted him. Hehr shoved the cart of tools at the employee and fled the store. The employee noted Hehr drove away in a blue and white van with a blonde female was seated beside him.
Nine days later, Hehr entered the Broomfield store and was followed by a store investigator. That employee witnessed Hehr cutting security ties to tools and called the Broomfield Police Department. The employee also identified Gaiswinkler as a passenger in the van. Broomfield officers later pulled the van over and arrested Hehr for theft of less than $500 of merchandise, which was returned to the store.
Hehr and Gaiswinkler stole from Home Depots in Arvada, Thornton, Broomfield, Golden, Westminster, Firestone, Boulder, Louisville, and unincorporated Jefferson County (Morrison), per the indictment.
The state's case will be prosecuted in a Jefferson County court. Both Hehr and Gaiswinkler are currently held on $50,000 bonds. Hehr faces racketeering and conspiracy charges, plus theft counts, and is scheduled to appear for a prelimary hearing March 28. Gaiswinkler faces one count of conspiracy and two felony counts of theft.
