Couple indicted in thefts
Home Depot locations in Boulder and Weld counties were targeted
A Colorado grand jury indicted a couple for reportedly carrying out an organized retail theft scheme involving The Home Depot stores, including those in Boulder County and Broomfield, and pawning or selling the stolen items.
Mario Timothy Hehr and Alexandra Gaiswinkler were indicted on charges including violating the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act, theft and conspiracy to commit theft, according to a release from the Colorado Attorney General.
Prosecutors said Hehr would enter stores, use cutters to cut security cables from high-end tools, conceal the tools in a tote or garbage bin, and then exit the store with the tote or bin without paying for the merchandise.
Hehr would depart from the stores in a distinctive blue and white van, with Gaiswinkler serving as the getaway driver at least once.
Hehr or Gaiswinkler would then often go directly to pawn shops to sell or pawn the items.
The two targeted stores in Adams, Jefferson, Boulder, Broomfield and Weld counties.
“Colorado businesses have lost millions in inventory to sophisticated crime rings, threatening greater safety risks to retail store employees and higher prices for consumers,” Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a statement. “Working with our law enforcement partners, my office is committed to combating organized retail theft and holding criminals accountable for the harm they cause businesses, employees and consumers throughout the state.”
Hehr and Gaiswinkler are in custody at the Jefferson County Jail on $50,000 cash or surety bonds. Their cases were filed in Jefferson County and an attorney from the Department of Law’s Criminal Justice Section will serve as a special deputy district attorney in the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
“We are grateful to our law enforcement partners for the hard work and persistence that resulted in the indictments announced today,” First Judicial District Attorney Alexis King said in a statement. “Retail theft has a deep impact on both consumers and businesses and the well-being of our communities. We look forward to a continued partnership with the Attorney General’s Office to ensure those responsible are held accountable.”