(PUEBLO COUNTY, Colo.) — The Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) reported that on Thursday, Aug. 15, deputies arrested a suspect for vehicle theft after he allegedly stole a car while the owner was shopping, and were able to track the vehicle down using GPS.
According to PCSO, deputies responded to the Dollar Tree located at 1899 Santa Fe Drive, near Highway 227, at around 2:45 p.m. Thursday after a woman reported that her 2018 Ford Escape was stolen. The woman said she had unknowingly dropped her keys while getting out of the vehicle and didn’t realize it until she came out and saw that her car was missing.
A witness told deputies that three men were seen getting into the Ford Escape and leaving eastbound on U.S. Highway 50, according to PCSO. Deputies were able to use GPS to track the vehicle to a location in the Minnequa Heights area in Pueblo. When deputies arrived, they found the vehicle abandoned at the intersection of Oakland and Iowa Avenues.
PCSO reported that after searching the area, deputies learned that a possible suspect was at a home in the 2500 block of Wyoming Avenue. At the home, deputies contacted a woman who apparently refused to allow deputies to speak to anyone inside, though she did direct deputies to a trash can on the property which contained several items belonging to the victim.
Courtesy: Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office
PCSO obtained and executed a search warrant at the home and found the suspect, identified as Travis Barela, inside the home who matched the description of one of the suspects in the vehicle theft. Additional items from the victim’s vehicle were also found at the home, according to deputies.
According to PCSO, deputies arrested Barela for Aggravated Motor Vehicle Theft in addition to four outstanding warrants. He was booked into the Pueblo County Jail and his bonds total $31,000.
PCSO said the two other men seen in the stolen vehicle have not been located, but another man who arrived while deputies were at the home was also arrested on an outstanding warrant. Detectives are still investigating the incident.
