Watch: Wheat Ridge police arrest suspected shoplifter amid rise in retail thefts

WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. (KDVR) — As thefts are spiking in the city of Wheat Ridge, body camera footage highlights how police are trying to tackle it in real time.

Crime data through May from Wheat Ridge Police reveals some promising trends.

“We’re talking everything from motor vehicle theft down about 20% compared to 2023,” said Alex Rose, Wheat Ridge Police Department’s public information officer. “Robberies are down, assaults are down and that’s down from a 26% overall decline since it peaked in 2021.”

However, the number of thefts continues to rise. Investigators are finding retail thefts and scams preying on older Coloradans as two major contributors to the trends.

“We’re going to really work hard and work well with our business partners here in Wheat Ridge to stop this from happening in real time, because it’s impacting those businesses’ bottom lines and that means it’s impacting the consumers here in our city,” Rose said.

Body camera footage shows police last Thursday at a Wheat Ridge King Soopers working with loss prevention to catch a suspect in the act.

“One of our officers was outside the store with one of his team members listening over the phone, and we were basically able to track them over to the checkout line,” Rose said. “He just paid for bananas, but not the more than $300 worth of other goods that he’s accused of concealing.”

As for scams, Wheat Ridge police investigators are seeing an uptick in theft and fraud involving the older population.

“We’re really asking the public to have a conversation with your grandparents, your parents, your elderly neighbor, and let them know about these type of scams that are happening in our community,” Rose said.

More information on types of scams and prevention can be found on the Colorado Attorney General’s Office website .

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