CRIME
Suspected Burglar Caught Trying To Use An Uber As A Getaway Driver In Colorado
Wheat Ridge Police
Police in Colorado detained an alleged burglar last week after they caught him trying to catch an Uber away from the scene of the crime.
The Wheat Ridge Police Department said officers responded Thursday night to a report of a burglary at Blue Sky Plumbing. A 911 caller reported a hole in the fence and said they had security footage of a man stealing tools.
Officers arrived to find an Uber driver waiting in the area, and the driver told police he was at Blue Sky Plumbing to pick up a man named Jose. The purported passenger was approaching the car.
Body-worn camera video shared the police department shows officers intercepting the man, and asking if he was waiting for an Uber.
Are you looking for an Uber? an officer asks.
Ah, no, the suspect says.
He then tells officers his name is Raul, which police said was a fake name. He claims he is simply on his way to his mother’s house.
The man was detained and a search of his backpack revealed more than $8,600 worth of allegedly stolen tools.
“This backpack is full of Milwaukee tools,” an officer can be heard saying.
It may not be the best idea to have an Uber pick you up AT the crime scene,” the police department wrote on X, formerly Twitter, alongside the video.
The suspect was taken back to the police department, where fingerprint scanners confirmed his real identity, police said.
According to jail records from the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office, 26-year-old Jose Guadalupe Perez-Gallardo was charged with larceny greater than $2,000, criminal trespass, possession of burglary tools, and false reporting to authorities.
TMX contributed to this article.
