AURORA, Colo. — A single mother of two is passing out flyers in her neighborhood and offering a $200 reward to catch burglars she says have broken into her Aurora home several times.
Natasha Dowd moved into the Utah Park neighborhood in 2019. She says less than a year later, burglars began targeting her home. She believes it's because she grows medical marijuana.
“Attempted break-in would be about five or six now,” Dowd said.
She says the perpetrators have managed to break in twice. Dowd estimates they've taken about $3,000 worth of personal property, including marijuana, edibles and other items.
“I am a medical cannabis holder; I have arthritis in my hips, and I have a medical card for it,” Dowd said.
The latest attempted break-in happened Wednesday morning around 1:30 a.m. Surveillance video shows three people in Dowd’s backyard in dark clothing. At one point, one person walks over and cuts the cord to the camera located just feet from Dowd’s daughter’s bedroom.
Aurora police officers responded to the home several times and opened four cases. Dowd says investigators have dusted for fingerprints, taken evidence of a footprint and gathered surveillance video, but no arrests have been made. She fears the police aren’t taking her case seriously because it’s tied to marijuana.
“I’m not sleeping, my anxiety is like at a level ten and I tell the cops this,” Dowd said.
Dowd purchased a rottweiler to help protect her home and a gun to protect her family. She’s covered windows to prevent people from looking inside and used pallets to block off her backyard door.
“I don’t want to hurt anyone, but I can’t keep having people break into my house,” Dowd said.
She feels terrorized and helpless and worries about her 3-year-old and 5-year-old.
Denver7 reached out to the Aurora Police Department to request the latest information on Dowd’s cases. A spokesperson wrote in an email that all four cases are inactive due to lack of evidence.
Dowd wants police to step in and take action before someone gets seriously hurt.
In the meantime, Dowd has printed out hundreds of flyers with photos of the criminals trespassing onto her property with the dates the photos were captured. Dowd is offering a $200 reward to anyone with information that leads to their arrest.
“I want them caught because I don’t think it’s going to stop,” Dowd said.
