Aurora retailers among top targets of retail crime syndicates
Organized crime syndicates are taking shoplifting to a whole new level and among the crime rings top targets in the country is the Havana Business District in Aurora. The Colorado Retail Council says a million dollar theft used to be a big deal in our state.
Now, it says, it's not unusual to see thefts five times that, and some have turned violent.
Scott Davenport, owner Heirloom Antique Mall in Aurora, is one of the latest victims of the crime rings.
"It was literally like ten seconds for them to pop the lock and get right in."
He got surveillance video of the thieves cleaning out a safe full of money and coin collection.
"It was a system. It wasn't like hadn't done it before," he said.
"It's become organized. They know they can do it and there's no penalty," said Aurora City Councilman Dustin Zvonek.
After pushing for stiffer penalties for car theft, he's doing the same for retail theft. He says the Dicks, Ross and Kohls in the Havana Business District are among the biggest retail theft targets in the country.
"Aurora is not going to continue to be a city where you can commit crimes and coddle criminals. We're going to focus on justice for victims. We are going to do everything we can to keep people's families, neighborhoods and businesses safe."
After the latest theft at his place, Davenport added alarms to display cases.
"It's always the costs. It's just too much anymore. It's just gotten out of control."
He says the Havana Business District is strong but, organized crime syndicates on the heels of a pandemic and shutdown, is a lot.
"It's not just me. I have between 50-70 dealers and each one doesn't make much money so taking out mouths of hard working people."
Davenport says retailers are holding meetings and sharing loss prevention tips. Meanwhile, Zvonek says Aurora's Police Chief is having the department's new Direct Action Response Team focus on retail theft and the department is joining the Colorado Organized Retail Theft Alliance which tackles the problem statewide.
