Car thieves taking advantage of cold weather in Pueblo Thursday

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- Police are warning vehicle owners to avoid "puffing," the practice of leaving autos unlocked, unattended and running to warm up in the cold, snowy weather.

A message posted by police on Twitter and Facebook Thursday morning explains why:

We’ve already had two puffer motor vehicle thefts this morning. Please don’t leave your vehicle running unattended. Not only could you lose your vehicle, it will probably then be used to commit additional crimes. We are out patrolling and doing our best to prevent these.

— Pueblo Police Department (@PuebloPolice1) March 10, 2022

Puffing is illegal in Colorado, punishable by a fine of up to $60.

Exceptions to the law are vehicles with remote starting ability, but those owners still must take their key fobs with them and not leave them in their autos.

Even with those exceptions, however, owners can leave vehicles unattended for no longer than five minutes.

Law enforcement began increasing enforcement of the law in 2020.

"These two thefts make it a total of 34 vehicles this year, stolen while puffing," said police Sgt. Franklyn Ortega. "The average is around 45, and most are taken in January and February. In most cases, the thieves use the stolen vehicles to commit other crimes. That's why we don't want people puffing."

Ortega said that police have around a 90% success rate in recovering the stolen vehicles.

"Burt they aren't the same when we recover them," he said. "They're damaged people have done things in them. So they're not the same. That's unfortunate for the victims, especially if they don't have adequate insurance."

But police confess that they're less successful catching the thieves.

"We often find the stolen vehicles by responding to reports of stolen or suspicious (autos) that turn up in parking lots or neighborhoods," Ortega said. "Then we canvass the area to find out if the vehicle belongs to someone there."

He said that some thefts are committed by homeless people seeking a warm place to stay and free transportation.

Some people responded to the police social media posts with frustration, saying that citing the victims for violating the puffing law punishes them and not the thieves.

"We don't always cite victims," Ortega said. "That's at the officer's discretion. But we may have to issue more citations in the future if we can't reverse this trend."

Both of Thursday's puffing thefts happened on the city's south side, police said.