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August 10, 2017
BACK TO SCHOOL: Supply drives help students start year prepared P16
ARAPAHOE COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
Area gun store National Night Out gives city burglaries ‘not residents time to connect P7 impulse crimes’ NEIGHBORLY SPIRIT:
Recent theft in which 20 rifles were taken is one of many in recent months BY DAVID GILBERT DGILBERT@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
CHANGING TIMES: Declining membership prompts local Lions Club to bow out of Western Welcome Week event P4
A FRESH IDEA: Markets help feed the demand for locally grown food P6
Thieves recently made off with 20 semiautomatic rifles from Warhorse Firearms of the Rockies in Littleton, the latest in a series of “smash-and-grab” burglaries at area gun stores in recent months. Three or four suspects broke a large window and climbed a staircase into the store, located on the second floor above Grand Prix Motorsports at 3105 W. County Line Road a little after 2 a.m. July 26, according to the Littleton Police Department. Investigators are looking for a dark twodoor Honda with a black spoiler on the back. The rash of burglaries, which has included stores in Arapahoe, Douglas and Jefferson counties, is part of a larger trend of gun thefts from dealers statewide, authorities say. More than 270 guns were stolen in 2016, up from 121 in 2015 and 56 in 2014, according to information provided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The trend also is reflected nationwide, with 9,281 guns stolen from dealers across the country in 2016, up from 6,163 in 2015. The Denver-area burglaries are the No. 1 priority of investigators at the Denver field office of the ATF, said spokeswoman Lisa Meiman, adding that while it’s too early to say if the burglaries are a pattern or committed by the same group of people, there’s clearly thought behind them. “These are not impulse crimes,” Meiman said. “We’re seeing an uptick pattern that’s very concerning. Anywhere there’s a sizable urban area with a lot of gun stores, you’re seeing this upward trend in gun thefts.” SEE GUNS, P15
THE BOTTOM LINE PERIODICAL
‘If I were a teenager right now, and knew what was going on here and in the world, I might need all the help I could find. And all of the help that could find me.’ Craig Marshall Smith, columnist | Page 12 INSIDE
VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 16 | CALENDAR: PAGE 23 | SPORTS: PAGE 25
EnglewoodHerald.net
VOLUME 97 | ISSUE 25