A recently turned 18-year-old is facing charges for allegedly committing almost 50 crimes related to car theft, burglaries, assault and more across Colorado Springs, according to police.

Over the past three months, investigators from the Colorado Springs Police Department have been looking into a “series” of felony and misdemeanor crimes and connected the suspect to all of them, according to a police blotter entry. The suspect’s name is being withheld by authorities because most of the alleged offenses were committed when he was minor. 

Of the crimes, the suspect has been tied to 13 counts of car theft, nine counts of first- and second-degree assault, eight counts of protection order violations, six counts of criminal mischief, two counts of theft and two counts of burglary, said Caitlin Ford, a spokesperson for the Police Department.

According to Ford, the suspect was with a group of people for some crimes and by himself for others. 

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The suspect has reportedly bonded out of all of his arrests, including one that had him on a elevated bond of $50,000 but was later waived, police said. Most recently, the suspect turned himself in after learning of another warrant for his arrest that had an increased bond amount. However, the bond was reduced, and he was later released.

“Our property crimes teams are trying to highlight the struggles our department is facing with prolific juvenile offenders,” Ford said. “This is a textbook case of so many of them – arrested for a crime and immediately released, only to reoffend with minimal to no consequences.”

Colorado Springs law enforcement saw more than 500 juvenile offender interactions per month in 2024, up from just over 400 per month in 2023, according to previous Gazette reporting.

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In recent years, law enforcement has reported a significant increase in juvenile crime, ranging from violent offenses to property crime, including the influx of smash-and-grabs Colorado Springs saw in 2024.

Michael Allen, the 4th Judicial District attorney, told The Gazette in November that Colorado has “eroded” the ability to hold juvenile offenders accountable. In 2019, Colorado had 380 bed spaces available to hold these offenders. That number has slowly gone down since

That same year, the number of beds was reduced to 320. Once the COVID-19 pandemic struck, that number decreased to 215.

As a result of the insufficient bedding, juvenile offenders who commit less-violent crimes are often let go.

Juvenile with 8 felony warrants among two arrested in Colorado Springs smash-and-grabs, police say