Multiple Stolen Vehicles Recovered At Weld County Chop Shop

You rarely hear of stolen vehicles being recovered... in fact, it's almost a joke when a car gets stolen and someone asks "did you call the police?" Like an old episode of Seinfeld where they joke they're putting their "best detective" on it, these stories don't often come with a happy ending.

But Weld County Sheriff's Deputies made a pretty interesting discovery this past weekend in Aristocrat Ranchettes, which is a small community in southern Weld County. They stumbled across what appeared to be a stolen vehicle backed up to a fence on a property.

After receiving permission to check it out, they hit the jackpot.

Not only did they recover the original vehicle they suspected was stolen, but several others including cars, camper trailers and even a fork lift - all part of what appeared to be a "chop shop" on the property.

A chop shop is a common term in TV and movies, but it's not all that often you hear about one in real life, right here near home. Basically it's where a lot of stolen vehicles end up to be torn apart and have their parts sold by the people who stole them.

Detectives have picked up the investigation and have not yet made any arrests, but in all they recovered six vehicles, a trailer and a forklift - all of which were confirmed stolen. Two other trailers, a skid steer, and a camper trailer were also taken as deputies suspected they were stolen vehicles because the VIN numbers were either missing or damaged.

The sheriff’s office is asking anyone with any helpful information who hasn’t already spoken with detectives to call 970-304-6464 or email your tip to crimetips@weld.gov.