Massive mess left behind after driver uses stolen truck to vandalize three businesses Friday in west Colorado Springs
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- Three businesses in Old Colorado City, on the west side of Colorado Springs, were damaged Friday morning by a stolen truck.
Now, the victims are cleaning up the mess left behind.
Colorado Springs Police said that it happened between midnight and 2 a.m. when the driver of a truck that was towing a road barricade used it to force back into the buildings.
However, the driver didn’t enter the buildings and nothing was taken, police said; they recovered the truck but are still trying to determine a suspect.
The targeted businesses are all located on West Colorado Ave.: Paradise Firearms Sales; Velez' LTC, an art/jewelry store; Antique Legacv.
The gun shop had no interior damage but the truck knocked down a bench and several natural gas boxes, and cracked some of the siding.
Paradise has metal bars on its door and windows for added security, and a surveillance camera recorded the driver's actions.
"(The driver) came, left and came back," said Susan Paradis, wife of store owner Paul Paradis. "The second time, (the driver) couldn't get the barrier over the curb. It just broke off and was left behind. I guess we'll try to secure the front of our business with more metal, I don't know."
The art/jewelry store sustained a broken display window, with part of the front wall knocked partly off its foundation, and numerous broken items of merchandise.
"I don't know what to say. I'm still kind of in shock," said owner Michael Velez. "I've been here 34 years. I've seen people have windows broken down here, but obviously they rammed (my place) pretty bad. The brick is broken, and is pushed in about half a foot. I didn't find out about the damage until about an hour before I came to work."
The antique shop got the worst of it -- a gaping hole knocked through the brick side wall, and priceless merchandise destroyed.
"(The driver) destroyed eight display cabinets with porcelain, china, all busted crystal," said owner Adam Heffington. "Can't replace some of those antiques. A lot of them were over 100 years old. We've been in this location for 30 years and in business for more than 70."
Heffington said that he'll likely have to close for a month to repair damage, replace carpeting and redesign the interior.
Paradis said that she was told a homeless man who saw the vandalism reported it to a fire station a few blocks away.
Police estimate the total damage to be at least $100,000.
