A ring believed responsible for 10 burglaries, five auto thefts and four vehicle break-ins has been broken up in Colorado Springs, authorities there announced.
For three months, the burglars targeted homes that appeared to be unoccupied.
They first knocked on the door and if they got no response, they broke in either by kicking in a door or breaking a window, said Lt. David Whitlock of the Colorado Springs Police Department.
However, on at least two occasions they encountered people in the homes.
On Jan. 30, the victim, a night-shift day-sleeper, was awakened by the suspects kicking in a door and breaking a window.
The victim’s German shepherd chased the intruders out of the house. However, the dog was hit in the mouth by a bullet fired by one of the intruders.
The man was not hurt and the dog recovered.
Both physical and forensic evidence was recovered from the scene, according to Whitlock.
On March 5, a second victim heard strange sounds in his house and encountered three men. The suspects, after confronting the victim and slightly injuring him, kicked out a window and escaped. A handgun, which had been stolen three days before during a similar daytime burglary in Monument, was recovered in bushes below the window through which the burglars escaped.
Whitlock said that using the evidence recovered from the Jan. 30 and March 5 burglaries, the Colorado Springs Police Department SWAT team executed a search warrant on a residence in the 4500 block of Morning Mist Avenue.
There, he said, numerous stolen items were recovered including jewelry, guns, electronics and foreign coins.
Three suspects also were arrested.
They were identified as Alex Daukei-Cole, 25, Dustin Emerson Daukei-Cole, 24, and Reginald Powell, 29, all of Colorado Springs.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
