Grand theft auto is a felony in some states, but in Aurora where figures for this particular crime are going through the roof, those found guilty are getting slapped on the wrist and sentenced to probation.
That’s according to Aurora City Councilman Dustin Zvonek, who plans to introduce an ordinance to create minimum jail sentences for the crime.
Zvonek told Denver7 news these aren’t just property crimes. People are stealing cars in order to commit more serious crimes.
“In Colorado, over the past six, seven years, we’ve seen a systematic effort to decriminalize everything to the point to where we’re decriminalizing crime,” Zvonek said. “I’m not saying we have to throw everybody in jail and lock them up, but we have to have more severe penalties.”
Automobile thefts in Colorado rose 89% from 2019 to 2021, but in that same time period Aurora saw a wicked increase of 239%.
This is clearly a problem the state legislature should have dealt with this session.
It’s become painfully obvious the Democrats who completely control state government believe that all law breakers are just victims who need to be cradled in the loving arms of government programs, and given a brief time out in probation.
We look forward to what Zvonek can do to fix the problem.