On Tuesday, the police department reported that Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, a Democrat, was one of the auto theft victims amid the rising vehicle robbery in Colorado.
Johnston's office also confirmed that his car was stolen a month ago and had already been recovered by the police department.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston's Car Stolen
DENVER, CO - JANUARY 30: Cars line up at a mass COVID-19 vaccination event on January 30, 2021 in Denver, Colorado. UCHealth, Colorado's largest healthcare provider, plans to vaccinate 10,000 seniors over 70 during the drive-up event this weekend.
Johnston's office reported the stolen car but did not provide further specific details to protect the safety of Mayor Johnston and his family. The incident occurred amid the rising robbery, which has been an exacerbating problem in the state.
Fox News said Johnston's car had been stolen before. "Help! My car just got stolen from Office Depot on 35th+quebec. Call 911 if seen (yes I painted my car orange+blue)," he wrote on his social media in 2017.
The police tracked and recovered Johnston's Jeep, but the thief ripped the orange panels off. Johnston credited the Denver police for their amazing work in helping him.
Johnston was appointed as Denver's mayor in July. Earlier this year, he announced his mayoral on a campaign website that Denver should be a place where kids could walk outside at night and feel safe in any neighborhood.
One of his platforms was to hold people accountable and to make auto theft a felony and not a misdemeanor. He said that as the Mayor of Denver, he would push to raise the penalty for stealing a car back to a felony as a person should not get the same punishment for stealing a car as texting while the person drive a car.
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Car Theft Cases in Colorado
The most significant single chunk of the city's crime this year was the motor vehicle theft problem. Auto theft increased during the pandemic across the country, and Denver and Colorado have been battling the severe problem of auto theft for the last five years.
According to Fox 31 Denver, vehicle thefts in Colorado increased by 144% between 2011 and 2020. Approximately half of Denver's crime was vehicle-related this year.
The number of car thefts has doubled from 2019 to 2022. Denver alone accounted for a third of the state's auto thefts in 2022. In 2023, 43% of all crimes committed in Denver have been auto-related, more of a theft of a vehicle itself or criminal mischief around a car.
According to the Denver Police Department records, 139 individual criminal offenses were recorded, and theft of a motor vehicle was the single most common crime in Denver in 2023. Of the 15,000 crimes committed this year, 17% were thefts of motor vehicles.
Another 26% of Denver's crimes were also motor vehicle-related. The vehicle-related crime includes 1,488 thefts of items from a motor vehicle, 1,279 thefts of parts from a motor vehicle, and 1,205 acts of criminal mischief related to a motor vehicle.
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