DENVER — Residents of a southeast Denver apartment complex are asking for help from their management company after several cars were targeted in a car break-in crime spree.
Dozens of cars were broken into Labor Day weekend at Axis at Nine Mile Station after a parking garage malfunction left their cars vulnerable.
Residents told Denver7 that the property manager could have prevented it but kept the building and parking garage entrances open throughout the weekend.
Two couples said around seven cars in their parking garage were broken into, as well as many other vehicles in the other parking garages in their complex.
“It’s that feeling of being violated,” Roberta said.
Axis at Nine Mile Station residents, Randy and Roberta, are still traumatized after their Honda CRV was broken into.
“They actually tried to steal our entire vehicle. They ruined the ignition switch and underneath the steering wheel,” Randy said.
The perpetrators didn't manage to steal the SUV, but they did get away with tools and equipment the couple uses for their pet grooming business.
“Vacuum, scissors, they just took all the boxes we had in there,” Randy said. “All of those tools were given to me from my dad before he passed away in '04, so that is very hurtful.”
They got most of the car fixed, which cost them around $1,200. They say this wouldn't have happened if their former property manager, Laramar Group, would have kept their parking garage secure.
On Sept. 2, the apartment complex sent out an email to residents saying there was an internet outage in the office, so there is no fob, internet or phone access, and they would keep the building and garage entrances open throughout the long weekend.
Randy and Roberta said the car break-ins happened sometime in the evening between Sept. 4 and Sept. 5.
On Sept. 7, the community manager sent out another email stating: "The fob system malfunctioned and is not operational so the garage and entry doors must remain open."
The system is back up and running now, but residents say that doesn't make them feel any better.
Joe and his wife Britney say they have $4,300 worth of damage to their GMC Acadia.
“They drilled a hole in the actual door panel itself so they can reach in and manually make the lock pop up and stole things out of the car as well,” Joe said.
He said his frustration is building because residents pay $50 extra a month to park there. Adding to the confusion, the building was sold on Sept. 15 and is now being managed by Greystar.
Some residents feel Laramer Group doesn't want to help them.
“They told us they're not going to be responsible at all for it,” Joe said.
Randy says he hasn't had luck with Laramer Group either and just wants their former property manager to do something to help everyone affected by this crime spree.
“I'm not only doing this for us, I’m doing this for all of us, for everybody,” Randy said.
Denver7 reached out to Laramar Group and Greystar and are waiting to hear back from them. We also reached out to Denver police who say they're investigating at least three motor vehicle-related crimes from Sept. 5.