A Lafayette woman and mother of six says her car was stolen and then used to break into a gun store, leaving her without a vehicle and now asking her community for help. The car was destroyed after the break-in, according to the woman, who is seeking support in the aftermath.
The woman's account, first reported by FOX31 Denver, describes a chain of events that left her both a victim of auto theft and, indirectly, tied to a break-in at a gun store. She says the vehicle was taken, driven into the store, and rendered unusable in the process.
A Familiar Pattern Along the Front Range
While details specific to this Lafayette case remain limited, the tactic the woman described echoes a method Colorado authorities have flagged for years. Federal agents told The Denver Post in 2017 that they were seeing a growing trend in which criminals use stolen vehicles to smash into gun stores, a pattern documented in reporting from the same outlet.
That 2017 reporting detailed a Denver-area case in which a man named Viet Trinh admitted to driving a stolen vehicle while he and three others stole four rifles from Parker Arms, as reported by The Denver Post. The same report noted an earlier burglary in which masked thieves broke into the Shooter Ready gun shop in Thornton and stole 25 guns.
A Larger Burglary Ring Once Tied 400 Guns to Similar Tactics
The ramming-and-smash method has shown up in larger cases across the region as well. Denver7 reported that seventeen people were indicted on state and federal charges tied to gun-store burglaries that accounted for the theft of 400 guns in 2017 alone, with suspects ramming stolen cars into the businesses before making off with firearms once inside.
At the time, the ATF said it was investigating similar cases happening across the country, per a report from Denver7, and pushed firearms dealers to beef up security measures. A separate case referenced by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado described a gun store robbery in Arvada in which a rock was thrown through a glass window, seventeen firearms were stolen, and the perpetrators fled in a stolen vehicle, though that account comes from a brief snippet and hasn't been independently verified against the full release.
What Remains Unknown in the Lafayette Case
It isn't yet clear which gun store was targeted in Lafayette, when exactly the theft and break-in took place, or whether any suspects have been identified or arrested. The number of firearms allegedly taken, the extent of damage to the vehicle or the store, and what specific kind of support the mother of six is seeking have also not been detailed publicly.
For now, what's confirmed is limited to the woman's own account: her car was stolen, it was used to break into a gun store, and it was destroyed in the process. She says she's now leaning on her community for support as she works through the fallout.
