Thieves steal multiple firearms from 2 Colorado Springs gun stores
Jerilee Bennett, The Gazette
Thieves stole multiple handguns Wednesday after driving into two Colorado Springs gun stores.
Colorado Springs police said they received reports about 4 a.m. of two separate incidents along the 3500 block of North Carefree Circle and the 3900 block of Palmer Park Boulevard.
Police said the same suspects drove a vehicle into both gun stores and were able to steal “multiple guns” from at least one location.
Based on the addresses provided by police, one of the shops hit appears to be SDS Guns at Palmer Park and North Academy Boulevard. A piece of plywood covered a window at the front of the building Wednesday morning.
Although Ron Rogers puts all his guns in a safe every night, thieves still busted up the empty glass case anyway even with nothing to steal. Rogers is co-owner of Spruce Defense, a firearms and ammo store that was burglarized early Wednesday, July 31, 2024, when thieves drove a stolen car through their front door.
SDS Guns staff refused to comment when a Gazette reporter visited the store.
Connie Rogers, owner of Spruce Defense, whose shop is along North Carefree Circle, said although no firearms were taken, the storefront received between $20,000 and $30,000 in damages.
Family member said they lock the weapons up at night in case of such an incident, but that didn’t prevent costly damage to the business.
“It’s quite shocking. We thought we’d done everything right. We could go out of business and become bankrupt. We put all of our savings and everything into it,” Rogers said.
Although Ron Rogers puts all his guns in a safe every night, thieves still busted up the empty glass case anyway even with nothing to steal. Rogers is co-owner of Spruce Defense, a firearms and ammo store that was burglarized early Wednesday, July 31, 2024, when thieves drove a stolen car through their front door.
According to Colorado Springs police, there have been 24 smash-and-grab incidents in the city this year.
Rogers, who opened Spruce Defense with her husband Ron and son Sean, said this is the second store break-in since opening in early March.
A stolen vehicle was driven through the front of the store on March 3.
“We were out of business for two and a half months. We were finally able to reopen on May 11. We’ve only been open a couple of months, and now we’ve been hit again,” Connie Rogers said.
As a preventative measure after the initial attempted burglary in March, the family installed multiple balusters to protect the front of the store from a similar instance happening again.
Connie Rogers is reflected in the broken window of the family owned Spruce Defense firearms store, the night after thieves drove through the front door for the second time since they opened the store in March. The front door sits on the sidewalk in front of the store at the store at 3521 N. Carefree Circle on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. Rogers son and husband are co-owners of the store.
Connie Rogers said that although the blast film they had installed initially kept the front door from shattering when the thieves attempted to break in with a hammer, the group proceeded to drive through the front of the business by maneuvering the vehicle around the balusters, onto the sidewalk and through the front windows.
After the group realized there was no merchandise to take, the group continued to smash the glass countertops before fleeing the scene.
Connie Rogers said while the store carries insurance, the rates will undoubtedly increase. She told The Gazette she’s unsure if the business will be able to recover after this second attack.
‘We don’t want to be rich, we want a successful business, and that’s the risk — losing everything,” Connie Rogers said.
The scene of one of the gun stores where thieves stole multiple firearms early Wednesday morning.
Abbey Soukup
According to the department, the suspects involved remain at large. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has been notified.
Police Department spokeswoman Caitlin Ford said the reason people steal firearms is almost always to conduct more violent crime.
“Stolen weapons are almost always used in the commission of violent crimes — assault, felony menacing, armed robberies, vehicle thefts,” Ford said.
She continued to remind the public the importance of reporting a stolen firearm to law enforcement, whether you’re an individual gun owner or business.
“It’s important to report a stolen firearm, if that firearm is used in a crime and it’s serial number is not logged as a stolen gun in the ATF database, it could be tied back to you,” Ford said.
