AURORA | Police arrested two women Thursday in connection with an Aurora electronics store that investigators say bought and sold thousands of dollars worth of stolen merchandise.
The Wireless Works store at 14068 E, Mississippi Ave. was cordoned off with police tape Thursday morning as investigators searched the store for stolen merchandise.
In addition to the two women arrested Thursday — sisters Perla Alvarado, 30, and Vanessa Alvarado, 28— police were searching for Lawrence Nelson, 50.
Aurora police Commander Richard Cimms said all three worked at the store and bought items from undercover officers that they believed were stolen. The merchandise included computers, GPS devices, Mp3 players, phones and televisions.
“The undercovers were telling them, ‘We just stole this, we just got this in a burglary, we just broke into some cars.’ They said, ‘We don’t care, we can move as much of this as you can bring in,’” Cimms said.
Police also searched a home Thursday in the 5700 block of Genoa Way in Denver.
The suspects will likely face multiple charges including theft by receiving, felony theft and conspiracy, Cimms said.
The investigation started in late August when police arrested suspected burglars who told detectives they often sold stolen merchandise at the store near Mississippi and South Abilene Street.
Over the course of the investigation, investigators sold about $2,600 in merchandise at the store, Cimms said. Investigators later bought much of the merchandise back.
Cimms said the suspects often took the stolen goods from the store and sold them elsewhere, typically via the internet.
The investigation is an important one, Cimms said, because property crime is up in recent months and by cracking down on people who buy stolen merchandise, police make it hard for thieves to move the items they steal.
Cimms said the Wireless Works investigation isn’t the only one of its kind and investigators are looking at other stores that buy stolen items.
“This will be the first of several,” he said.
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