Douglas, Arapahoe sheriffs raise alarm about burglaries of Asian business owners’ homes, offer security tips – Douglas County News Press

For months, thieves have burglarized the homes of Asian businesspeople in Arapahoe and Douglas counties, and the local sheriffs came together to urge the public to take steps to protect against the crimes.

“You could be the hero that solves all of these cases just by making a call to law enforcement,” Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly said.

Flanked by a longtime cop and an official from the local district attorney’s office, the sheriffs encouraged the public to contact law enforcement and report suspicious activity in their neighborhoods. Officials are also concerned about a string of burglaries at high-value homes during the hours when people normally eat dinner.

Collectively, the burglaries may have cost victims a total of millions of dollars, according to law enforcement.

At a sheriffs’ town hall event in December, officials focused especially on the burglaries of Asian residents’ homes, speaking to Asian community members in the audience. Brian Sugioka, a chief deputy district attorney, mentioned his own heritage as he discussed the issue.

“Of course, there’s a general sense of unease that certain ethnic groups may feel” and “as a person of Japanese descent myself, I understand,” Sugioka said.

Although the incidents have been thefts, the crimes still present the risk of violence, Sugioka said.

“One of the things that makes home burglaries so dangerous is the possibility that perhaps the suspects think nobody’s home but they’re wrong, and before you know it, there’s gunfire,” Sugioka said.

Officials are concerned that not all victims are reporting the crimes or aren’t reporting in a timely manner, Weekly said.

For those who may struggle with a language barrier, law enforcement can use a translator to help, Weekly said.

Even small details that seem suspicious might help officials if the public reports them, according to the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office. 

It’s OK to “be suspicious of people loitering around your home,” Arapahoe County Sheriff Tyler Brown said, adding: “We would rather drive by and have it be absolutely nothing than be investigating a burglary.”

Burglaries pile up

The Douglas County sheriff’s jurisdiction in mid-December listed 13 reported burglaries of Asian business owners’ homes in 2024, with seven of those having occurred since September.

The sheriff’s jurisdiction includes unincorporated Douglas County — areas outside of city and town boundaries — along with Castle Pines and Larkspur.

At least about a dozen burglaries of Asian business owners’ homes have occurred from October 2023 through early December 2024 in the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office jurisdiction, according to the office.

The Arapahoe County sheriff’s jurisdiction includes unincorporated Arapahoe County areas, along with Centennial, Bennett, Foxfield and Deer Trail.

‘Taking advantage’

Asian business owners could be the target of burglaries because thieves have recognized some apparent cultural differences, such as the idea that Asian people may distrust banks and instead keep large amounts of money at home, Brown said.

“They’re taking advantage of that,” Brown said of the burglars.

Along with that string of crime, officials also have their eye on a separate pattern of burglaries that took place at high-value homes in Arapahoe County during the hours when people normally eat dinner — incidents that have been dubbed the “dinnertime burglaries.”

The nine dinnertime burglaries took place at homes in Cherry Hills Village, Columbine Valley, Littleton and unincorporated Arapahoe County from February to October 2024, according to the sheriff’s office. The homes hit in the Arapahoe dinnertime burglaries back up to a greenbelt or an open area, Arapahoe sheriff’s Sgt. Brett Cohn said.

Officials said the nine thefts total almost $1 million in stolen goods.

The Douglas sheriff’s office is only aware of one case of a dinnertime burglary, Weekly said.

Cohn noted that dinnertime is usually when people are home — but, he said, thieves are taking steps to make sure people aren’t there.

“We’re talking about groups of people that are working together to hit these homes,” Cohn said.

‘Persons of interest’

One question at the town hall asked whether the burglars are part of a “South American theft group,” a term that has circulated in news media coverage.

“We don’t have any indication or any evidence in our dinnertime burglaries that the suspects are coming from one particular nation or another,” Brown said.

When asked whether there is any evidence that suspects in the burglaries of Asian business owners’ homes in the Arapahoe sheriff jurisdiction are coming from one nation or demographic, Ginger Delgado, an Arapahoe sheriff spokesperson, said: “This is something investigators are still working together to figure out.”

For his jurisdiction, Weekly said, “In Douglas County, we believe they are Colombian nationals.”

Asked why officials believe that Colombian nationals are involved, Weekly referred to “people that have been identified in relation to the investigations” of Asian business owners’ home burglaries.

“We have several people identified that we believe are persons of interest in the cases,” Weekly said, adding: “We are closer than we’ve ever been to making arrests and cracking this (case) wide open.”

Asked whether the alleged Colombian nationals are believed to also be U.S. citizens or legal immigrants, undocumented immigrants or migrants who are seeking asylum, Deputy Cocha Heyden, a spokesperson for the Douglas sheriff’s office, said: “Until we make arrests, we won’t know all those details.”

She added in a December statement that it is “hard to know” the number of 2024 burglaries of Asian business owners’ homes in Douglas County that Colombian nationals are believed to have committed.

“In regards to our belief that the suspects may be from (Colombia), this is still part of the investigation and we can’t release anything else on that right now,” Heyden said.

Sugioka, the chief deputy district attorney, said “we should not assume” that every burglary is committed by one group. He noted the concept of “copycat” crimes.

“It could be one group with add-ons, it could be multiple groups, but certainly when you’re looking at (this) specific pattern, there’s at least a group,” Sugioka said.

‘Minutes count’

Officials also described how the crimes appear to work.

In burglaries that affected Asian business owners, the suspects may employ “sophisticated tactics” to track their victim’s activity before the burglary by placing hidden cameras in the area to determine when the homes are unoccupied, according to the Douglas sheriff’s office.

Weekly urged the public to report suspicious activity, adding that “we can catch these people in the act.”

“These suspects are trying to look like cable guys, repairmen, phone repairmen,” Weekly said, adding: “If it’s a legitimate person working on the line, that’s fine, but let us get out there. We’ve been close to catching these guys (before).”

“You don’t even have to give your name. You can give the address” and hang up, Weekly added. “Minutes count when these things are happening.”

Cohn, the Arapahoe sergeant, said officials believe criminals are also watching the businesses.

“If a vehicle is following you, take two left turns,” Cohn said, adding: “If you’re an Asian business owner, talk to your neighbors (and say) ‘I need your help.’”

Other states are being hit as well, Weekly said.

“We’re working with other states as well, and we may (involve) our federal partners,” Weekly said.

Tips on staying safe

Officials also offered advice on how to guard against burglary.

“You want to make your home an unattractive target,” Sugioka said. “These guys are opportunists.”

“Install cameras not only on the exterior of your home, but put them on the interior,” Brown said, adding that it’s important to keep homes lit up outside.

Dogs can act as a deterrent, Cohn said, adding that criminals “don’t want to be bit.”

Thieves also burglarize garages. Don’t put keys and valuables right by your door, Cohn said.

“Make sure your garage door opener is hidden,” Cohn said, adding: “Keep your cars clean. Keep any identifying information out of your vehicles” because criminals can use it to target your home.

Other security tips from the sheriffs include:

• Lock doors and windows when you’re leaving home.

• Install motion-sensor lights outdoors.

• Talk to your neighbors.

• Hide jewelry or place it in a safe secured to the floor.

“Put those valuables in a bank,” Weekly said. “The reason they keep hitting is because it’s lucrative.”

Officials emphasized talking to law enforcement.

If you report about a car that seems not to have a reason to be in the area, that may not be a crime — but if the car pops up again, that may be relevant information to law enforcement, Sugioka said.

Officials have “victim’s advocates” who can provide services to victims of crimes, Brown said.

“You can come to us, and you can share what happened, and it’s (a) judgment-free zone,” Brown said.

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