Motor vehicle thieves have been on a tear in metro Denver, more than doubling their haul over the last couple of years — from just under 13,000 automobiles stolen in 2019 to more than 27,000 last year.
The sharp spike in vehicle heists has landed Colorado at the top of the list of all states for per capita auto thefts, with just over 500 stolen vehicles per 100,000 residents, according to data compiled by the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Only Washington, D.C. did worse.
That grim reality last month prompted Glendale, an enclave city surrounded by Denver, to do something it had never done before: become a member of the Metropolitan Auto Theft Task Force.
