Locksmith at the center of CBS Colorado investigation into overcharging customers now charged with theft

A locksmith who investigators believe has been targeting older adults in the Denver metro area is now facing theft charges.

In March, CBS Colorado reported on a locksmith accused of overcharging a 90-year-old woman.

After tracking the owner down, the money was returned. Soon after, another case surfaced involving an 83-year-old man who used the same company. Now, investigators in Jefferson County say those cases, along with several others, are linked to Menashe Evro.

Eight victims are named in the court paperwork, including the two families CBS Colorado had previously spoken with: Millie and John Hynes and Florence Sdanowich.

CBS Colorado brought them together along with Ted Gill, who was also named as a victim of Menashe Evro in the arrest paperwork.

They had never met before. But when they sat down together for the first time, they quickly realized they shared nearly identical experiences.

They all say they called a locksmith expecting a simple repair and were left feeling violated.

"Bad," Gill said, describing his experience, prompting a moment of uneasy laughter.

"All of us are elderly, and you hear about elderly people being scammed," Millie Hynes said. "I just felt so taken advantage of."

Each story followed a similar pattern. After the work was done, they were told receipts would come later.

"I said, 'Do you have a receipt or statement or anything?'" John Hynes said.

"The office will send you a receipt tomorrow morning," Sdanowich said she was told.

Instead, each later discovered unexpectedly large charges on their credit cards -- often totaling thousands of dollars.

"I just re-keyed some stuff," Gill said. "I looked at the Visa, and it was $4,830."

Sdanowich said her credit card company alerted her to suspicious charges.

"Visa called me and asked, 'Did you charge $3,000 yesterday?' I said, 'What?'"

For months, the victims believed they were alone. That changed when the Hynes family saw CBS Colorado's report featuring Sdanowich describing nearly the same experience with the same locksmith company, Fortis.

During that earlier investigation, CBS Colorado used state business records to try to track the company's owner. Within an hour of a visit to a listed address, a man identifying himself as the owner called Your Investigator Karen Morfitt and later sent an unidentified person to deliver a check refunding Sdanowich.

That report prompted Jefferson County investigators to take a deeper look.

"My victim's daughter contacted me about a story you had run referencing another woman who was a victim of the same locksmith company being overcharged thousands of dollars," Jefferson County Sherrif's Office detective Meagan Milliman said.

Milliman used invoices, social media, phone numbers and doorbell camera footage to identify Menashe Evro.

A traffic stop in Denver helped connect pieces of the investigation.

"During that time, he did provide a phone number that was on the invoice for the Fortis locksmith invoices," Milliman said.

Investigators have now identified eight victims across the Denver metro area, with most in their 70s to 90s.

Evro, who investigators say is connected to multiple locksmith companies, faces multiple felony charges, including theft and exploitation of at-risk adults.

"Everything that I have found shows he is the one doing this," Milliman said.

CBS Colorado asked Evro about the allegations as he arrived at court for a bond hearing.

"I don't speak English," he responded.

For the victims, finally meeting one another brought a sense of validation.

"It makes me feel not so dumb at my old age," Sdanowich said.

"That was like the weight just lifted," John Hynes added.

Investigators believe there may be more victims who have not reported what happened.

Evro is set for a preliminary hearing in July.