Douglas County Sheriff’s detectives investigating stolen cars were able to link the auto theft to a tow truck driver.
Denver Police officers arrested Brian Chacon with Eagle Wing Towing. The 33-year-old faces charges including 48 counts of second-degree motor vehicle theft, 37 counts of forgery, and 37 counts of chop shop activity. Law enforcement also found Chacon was in possession of child pornography, and faces five counts of sexual exploitation of child pornography/possession of child pornography. All the charges are felonies.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office’s Auto Theft Unit was alerted that there was a stolen car case and had information on other cases in December 2023.
“It all brought them back to Eagle Wing Towing, where the owner is alleged to have been grabbing abandoned vehicles on the side of the roads in Douglas County around the metro area, stashing them, then taking them to a salvage yard and salvaging them before they could be reported stolen,” Douglas County Sheriff’s spokesperson Deborah Takahara said.
Detectives said that Chacon took numerous vehicles to U-Pull and Pay Lots in Denver and Aurora, and the Littleton U-Pull. Eagle Wing Towing was permitted to store impound vehicles in one impound yard. The reported stolen vehicles that had been in Chacon’s possession were not taken to that impound lot.
“We had 48 vehicles confirmed stolen, and 10 of them were in Douglas County,” Takahara said. “Seven were in Castle Rock and two in Lone Tree. Bottom line is we believe that 20 cars had some ties to the Douglas County region.”
Detectives found 81 vehicles known to have been either sold to a salvage yard by Chacon and Eagle Wing Towing. Others were found in Denver, Aurora, and Commerce City. Officers also discovered Chacon was alleged to be in possession of child pornography through a search warrant executed for his phone.
Chacon is currently in DCSO Jail on $350,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in Douglas County Court for a hearing Friday morning.
“I am very proud of our patrol deputies and detectives’ work on this case. This suspect was preying on people who trusted that their vehicles would still be in the locations where they left them, whether they were disabled or otherwise, said Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly in a written statement. “If you come into Douglas County to commit crimes, we will hold you accountable. We will not allow it to happen.”
