Two mountain town crooks are in custody today for a rash of alleged burglaries at construction sites near Breckenridge.
And helping to crack the case? Automated cameras, including the maligned Flock cameras.
Summit County sheriff confirms the two men, David Zeledon, of Summit, and Nelson Gonzalez Lozano, of Kremmling, collaborated on multiple burglaries this September and October. They stole laser leveling tools, power tools, chainsaws, lighting fixtures and other construction equipment valued at around $8,000.
The first break in the case came when deputies traced Zeledon’s car using footage from private security cameras at several worksites. They cross-referenced this footage with images of his license plate captured by automated Flock cameras on busy Breckenridge roads.
Zeledon confessed to the crimes on Oct. 26 and was booked into Summit County jail on multiple counts of theft and second-degree burglary.
Zeledon also named an accomplice, Gonzalez Lozano. A search of his Kremmling home found nothing – at first.
Writes the sheriff’s department in a press release, “Although the stolen tools and equipment were not found, investigators developed probable cause through Flock camera data, cell phone analysis, extensive interviews and other investigative techniques that indicated Gonzalez Lozano had transported the stolen property to Mexico.”
This led to a nationwide felony arrest warrant. Earlier today, Nov. 5, Gonzalez Lozano turned himself into authorities on multiple theft and burglary charges.
Flock cameras have been in Summit for more than a year, funded by a federal grant with help from U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse. But in recent weeks the “de-Flock” movement has gained traction in Summit and elsewhere. On One Man’s Junk, a local Facebook group, a post from Oct. 9 calls them “A.I. surveillance cameras,” comparing them to the dystopian state of George Orwell’s “1984” and demanding their immediate removal.
The sheriff’s office claims Flock cameras are invaluable to criminal investigations, writing, “They are used to fight human trafficking, drug trafficking and other crimes, such as burglaries and vehicle thefts, along Colorado’s I-70 corridor.”
