Hot Tub Heist Caught On Tape
DENVER, Colo. (CBS4) - A brazen bandit singlehandedly swiped a 500-pound hot tub from a Front Range hot tub dealer last Wednesday morning as thousands of commuters whizzed by the hot tub store on Interstate 25.
"At 5 a.m. there are a lot of commuters, busses. They didn't seem to be bothered by that," said Stan Goodreau, who runs Colorado Custom Spas at 52nd and Broadway.
Goodreau's multiple security cameras caught the entire hot tub heist, which lasted about half an hour.
"It's not something that gets stolen very easily. Hot tubs don't walk off," said Goodreau.
According to the security camera videotape shared with CBS4 and police, a man can be seen approaching the hot tub company in the pre-dawn hours on April 9. He is armed with a sump pump to drain 250 gallons of water from the $5,000 hot tub. He also attempts to spray some sort of a substance on one of the security cameras several times in an attempt to conceal his identity and the theft. But the substance did not stick to the cameras.
After draining the water the man then lifts the three person hot tub onto a four wheel dolly. He can then be seen wheeling the tub through several parking lots to a waiting flatbed truck. An accomplice in the truck helps load the spa on to the flatbed and the men then flee.
"It's frustrating," said Goodreau. "There's that feeling of injustice and violation. You want to reach out and grab them."
Goodreau has reported the theft to the Adams County Sheriff's Department and is offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to identification of the bandits and recovery of the tub.
Goodreau said it's clear that whoever is behind the hot tub heist had methodically planned for the theft.
"They knew exactly what they would find. Every step was thought out. They put time and energy into the plan."
He asks anyone who recognizes the bandit or with any other information to call him at (303) HOT-TUBS.
