CASTLE ROCK, Colo. -- It didn’t take police long to identify a suspect in the theft of some handguns from a local gun shop last Thursday.
One of the shop’s owners says that’s because they upgraded security and installed new high-resolution cameras that caught the suspect in action.
Josh Barton, VP of Sales and Marketing at DCF Guns, told Denver7 that after last year’s metro-wide string of smash and grab break-ins, DCF Guns brought in a consultant, who suggested ways to beef up security.
He said the investment in new high-resolution cameras paid off last week, when a suspect walked into the store and started looking around.
“We were in the middle of performing an audit at the time,” Barton said. “It’s an ATF regulation that we do it annually. We do it every couple of months to be over-cautious, if you will.”
During the audit, staff placed a rack of firearms on the counter, then began attending to some customers.
When they returned to tagging the firearms, they learned some were missing, so they checked security video.
“You can see him looking over his shoulder,” Barton said of the suspect. “The video did reflect that he wasn’t new to putting something in his pants, as far as grabbing something off a shelf and putting it under his sweater and trying to walk out.”
Barton told Denver7 that cameras also recorded the getaway vehicle, which was driven by another individual.
He said those pictures were quickly shared with other gun shops.
After experiencing a series of smash and grabs last year, metro area gun shop owners banded together and formed an information sharing network.
“When things like this happen,” Barton said, “we actually go in and communicate with each other. We send photos…to let each other know what’s going on.”
He said he’s glad they beefed up security.
“In a matter of hours, we were able to get the police really clear photos, clear video and of course a lot of that got floated onto Facebook, which made a big difference in getting this gentleman identified,” he said.
Barton said the suspect allegedly stole at least two guns.
He said he doesn’t know what the teen intended to do with them.
Castle Rock Police say they’ve made contact with the suspect and his parents, and expect that he will turn himself in this week.