DENVER (KDVR) — ‘Tis the season for gift-giving, road-tripping and, with that holiday fun, brazen thieves looking to take advantage of the most wonderful time of the year.
Six months ago, Rachel Skytta said goodbye, for now, to Denver. She and her husband headed off on a cross-country adventure. After some amazing sights around the country, on a quick visit back to Denver, Skytta saw something unbelievable.
“We started going through the truck right away and noticed a handful of things missing,” Skytta said. “Our passports being maybe the most alarming thing. His work equipment — laptops, mouse, monitors, WiFi hotspots.”
Skytta estimates thousands of dollars in valuables were taken out of their locked truck overnight Tuesday. They were parked in the Highlands neighborhood along West 34th Avenue when thieves struck around 12:15 a.m.
“I love Denver. We lived here for about three years and never had anything like this happen,” she said. “So, I don’t know if it’s necessarily a sign of what’s happening in Denver, that we’re back for a couple of days and we have all of our stuff stolen. I think it was just a crime of opportunity. They saw a lot of good stuff in there and they said, OK, we’re going to take the time to get into this vehicle.”
Which Denver neighborhoods are hit most with theft from vehicles?
Neighbors tell FOX31 that Skytta’s wasn’t the only car victimized in this same Highlands neighborhood even in the last few days.
“In the past week, it seems to have escalated,” a neighbor said. “One of our neighbors had two cars stolen in the same night.”
Looking at just belongings stolen from cars in 2022, the FOX31 Data Desk uncovered that the Highlands have had almost 200 of these reported thefts, ranking ninth out of all of the Denver neighborhoods.
Five Points ranked at the top, with 574 of the almost 8,000 thefts from cars in Denver this year.
Skytta hopes her story is a warning to residents and visitors in all neighborhoods to take valuables inside this holiday season, locked car or not.
“Even if we’re in a quiet area, even if we think we’re safe and the truck is locked, we will not leave anything in there, especially around this time of year when people are just looking to take advantage of people,” Skytta said.