Hoping to recover a stolen tool box at the home of a suspected car thief, Weld County deputies not only discovered the tools but also enough stolen cars to open a used car dealership.
Weld County Sheriff John Cooke estimated the 25 cars, trucks, trailers, motorcycles and ATVs found on the property of a farmhouse on the 500 block of Highway 119 to be worth $500,000.
Deputies also found a stash of stolen furniture and construction equipment stored in several outbuildings on the farm, said Margie Martinez, Weld County Sheriff’s spokeswoman.
More stolen cars were later found at a nearby salvage yard and deputies are now investigating how wide-spread the theft and fencing ring was, she said.
“We would like to know who were the players who were stealing,” Martinez said today.
The case began on Saturday when the Colorado State Patrol arrested Mike Dezell, 33, for stealing a pickup truck in Loveland, Martinez said.
But when a Weld County Sheriff’s deputy brought the pickup back to its owner, the man said his tool box was missing.
Deputies Eric Schwartz and Eric Stauts went to the farmhouse Sunday to look for the tool box, Martinez said.
When they arrived they saw a silver Ford F350 pickup, which they knew was stolen and a license plate from a stolen car, Cooke said. They also saw cabinets that they knew had been taken recently from a nearby house.
The sheriff’s office obtained a search warrant and discovered numerous stolen cars and trucks in outbuildings on the farm, Martinez said.
The vehicles had been stolen in Longmont, Westminster, Dacono, Larimer County, Boulder County, Broomfield, Platteville, Broomfield, Thornton and Loveland, Cooke said.
Over the last several days deputies have been identifying the owners of the stolen vehicles and returning them, Martinez said.
Weld County investigators also found two stolen cars at a nearby salvage yard on Tuesday, she said.
No one from the salvage yard has been arrested, Martinez said. Dezell faces numerous additional criminal charges, she said.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
