The cat burglars entered through a dog door, grabbed the keys that hung from a hook a few feet from the couch where the homeowner slept and drove off with a 2005 Toyota Solara.
The car joined a list of items taken by a pair of brazen burglars who terrorized the Park Hill neighborhood for several months last summer, breaking into homes as residents slept.
On Thursday, Zakee Toliver, one of two people arrested for the crimes, pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary for which he could be sentenced to 10 to 14 years in prison.
And the winding investigative path that led to his conviction will result in commendations for the two detectives who used a combination of instinct and technology to catch the thieves.
Police warned residents
The burglaries last summer were the talk of Park Hill, a neighborhood of north Denver that is home to both low-income residents and Gov. John Hickenlooper.
As the burglars became more brazen, police warned residents about the home invasions, telling them to make sure doors and windows were locked at night.
“Park Hill is sort of like a small community; there was a lot of concern in the area. (Residents) were afraid their house was going to be next,” said Jane Hultin, a Park Hill resident and block captain.
But the break-ins continued and the potential for violence increased. On Aug. 11, a woman reported an intruder had entered her house and held a knife to her throat after she hit him in the head with a teapot.
“Now we knew these people had the potential for violence and were armed,” said Rhonda Jones, the police commander for District 2.
Then a break came.
The case had been assigned to burglary detectives John and Mark Haney, brothers who were dutifully cataloging the incidents and the stolen property while seeking evidence pointing to the burglars.
Six days after the woman had a knife pressed to her throat, another Park Hill woman reported an overnight break-in at her home, saying the intruders stole a laptop computer.
PC equipped with tracker
Rather than just cataloging the computer’s theft, Detective John Haney, 57, examined the computer’s paperwork — left behind by the thief — and found the clue that broke the case. The computer was equipped with LoJack, a theft recovery system.
John Haney reported the theft to Absolute Software Corp., the company that produces LoJack. The following day an agent of the company called, saying he had electronically tracked the computer to a home in Montbello where the user had logged onto a social network.
The people who lived in the house identified the computer’s user as Toliver.
When Toliver was spotted at 33rd Avenue and Holly Street, an officer stopped him. In a green backpack he carried were a red Dell laptop, a cellphone and a small camera.
“When we brought him in, Toliver lied to us for a little while,” said John Haney, who, with his 53-year-old brother, questioned the suspects.
Eventually Toliver admitted that he had stolen the objects from a home on Kearney Street after removing a screen and climbing through a first-floor window.
Toliver fingered his juvenile partner, who later confessed to taking part in the heists. “They said it started as a thrill for them to see if they could get away with it,” John Haney said.
The merit award is given to department members who, through personal initiative, tenacity and great effort, solve a major crime or series of crimes, according to information on the department’s website.
The Haneys put in extra hours, and their work paid off when a dangerous pair were taken off the street, said Sgt. Steve Gonzales.
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
