A Wheat Ridge Police Department Facebook post has a title beginning, “Do you recognize this...”
Earlier reports offer historical context: a 2011 CBS News Colorado story described air-conditioning units stolen for the metal inside them.
Earlier losses at local businesses
The report put the value of the stolen units at more than $15,000 and said seven area businesses had suffered losses totaling more than $45,000. Wheat Ridge police spokeswoman Lisa Spinder said the thefts appeared to be motivated by the scrap value of the units’ metal, rather than the appliances themselves.
Spinder described the crime as commodity-metal theft, saying the units were dismantled and their metal sold for scrap, according to the same report.
Colorado’s scrap-theft alert requirement
Colorado law requires purchasers of commodity metals to sign up for a scrap-theft alert system that provides notices about thefts in their geographic area, according to Senate Bill 22-009.
Theft trends in Wheat Ridge
In September 2024, Denver7 reported that theft in Wheat Ridge was up 5% in 2024, while other crimes were declining. The department said overall theft had reached a five-year high in 2023.
Businesses accounted for 53% of thefts reported to the department, Denver7 reported. Wheat Ridge police were working with businesses’ crime-prevention teams to address the problem.
