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Brazen thieves break into Aurora home while family sleeps

Police: Car thefts on the rise
Posted at 1:07 PM, Sep 22, 2016
and last updated 2016-09-22 19:56:07-04

AURORA, Colo. — An Aurora family woke up to a shock this morning; thieves had been busy stealing both of their cars.

The thieves targeted the Aurora Dam East neighborhood home sometime overnight Wednesday.

"My husband woke up to take the kids to school about 7 a.m., and both of our cars were gone," said Melissa Connor, who said the thieves apparently broke into the cars and got their garage door opener from inside. "They came into the house through the garage, and my purse was hanging right by the door."

The thieves made off with two Infiniti vehicles, as well as her purse, which contained her wedding band, credit cards and identification.

Her credit card was almost immediately used at the pumps of a nearby gas station.

"We have three car seats in each car, because we have babies, and that I think bothers me the most," said Connor, crying. "Just that someone can see this is a family car with a bunch of Disney DVDs in the backseat."

The stolen vehicles are described as a white Infiniti Qx80 with license plate VQG-339 and a silver Infiniti Qx60; both are 2014 model years.

Neighbors said this is normally a quiet area, but another car was stolen from a driveway just a few blocks away last month, so everyone is being more vigilant.

"Usually we leave the door open. We leave the car open, sometimes, but things change," said Azhari Aidah, who lives next door to the person whose car was stolen last month. "It's scary."

Aurora police said they are investigating.

Motor vehicle thefts in that district have gone up 5.2 percent this year compared to the same time period last year.

Connor said their alarm system didn't go off last night, and their dogs didn't make a sound.

"We thought we were doing everything right. I just hope we find our cars, but now we feel super violated, just not safe," said Connor. "Lock your doors. Put your car in your garage."

Police had these safety tips:

  • Make sure your vehicles are locked and all the windows are up. 
  • Don't leave any valuables inside your vehicle.
  • Make sure you don't leave any important documents inside of your vehicle. 
  • Don't keep a separate set of keys in the car.  
  • Make sure all your home's windows and doors are locked and closed 
  • Leave exterior lights on outside if possible. Or set motion sensor light. 

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