Heist at Denver’s Cherry Creek mall netted over $12 million, suspects carried saws, drills and blowtorches

Denver police and the FBI believe they have cracked the case of a heist last summer at the Hyde Park jewelry store in the Cherry Creek Shopping Center. An arrest warrant was issued for a man from Chile who investigators believe was part of a South American theft group traveling coast to coast and burglarizing jewelry stores.

Since the heist was discovered July 22, Hyde Park and the Denver Police Department said little about what happened, how much was taken or possible suspects.

On Wednesday, a Hyde Park store manager said she was unaware of the arrest and had no information to share.

But according to court documents obtained by CBS News Colorado, Denver authorities obtained an at large arrest warrant this month for Gustavo Salas Ortega, 33, who police say had a criminal record for theft, burglary and robbery in South America.

According to the arrest affidavit for Salas-Ortega, the thieves stole $12,289,731.76 in the Hyde Park burglary, making off with expensive watches, jewelry and other items.

A police reconstruction of what occurred says four people were involved in the Hyde Park heist, traveling from California to Denver and scouting out the mall and jewelry store on July 17. Based on surveillance videos, police say the group was traveling in a pickup truck without license plates. Investigators believe the crew dressed up like construction workers to enter the Cherry Creek Shopping Center, wearing hard hats and reflective vests.

Police say they carried power tools, saws, drills and acetylene blowtorches, arriving at the mall just before 8 p.m. on July 21.

Court documents say the group was inside the jewelry store for 8 hours, leaving at around 3:30 a.m. on July 22. A burglar alarm at the jewelry store went off at about 11:30 p.m. on the 21st, but mall security looked in the store’s front window, didn’t see anything amiss, and “believed the alarm was a false alarm.”

The group had cut through a wall from an adjacent store according to Denver police, then broke into display cases and the store safes “that contained numerous pieces of expensive jewelry and watches.”

Doug Schepman, a spokesperson for the Denver Police Department, said, “The Denver Police Department continues investigating this burglary and the other involved suspects. Anyone with information regarding the outstanding suspects is encouraged to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers, through which tipsters can remain anonymous and could be eligible for a reward.”

The $12 million Denver haul is part of a pattern of jewelry store thefts across the country.

 Federal investigators have linked Salas-Ortega to another mall jewelry store heist on Oct. 5, 2024 in New Jersey. In that case, authorities say he was part of a crew of five people wearing masks, gloves and reflective vests and carried a collapsible ladder. Police say one of the men in that burglary also appeared on surveillance video in the Hyde Park theft.

In that incident, the suspects cut a hole in a wall to gain entrance to the building. “Many items of jewelry” were taken from the store according to the FBI. Agents said the crew had disabled alarm systems. 

Surveillance video showed Salas-Ortega scouting the store the day before and the day of the burglary, according to a federal report. On Oct. 14, personnel from ICE detained Salas-Ortega in Rochelle Park, New Jersey and said they found him wearing a $10,000 watch that had been stolen from the New Jersey jewelry store.

According to the Denver arrest affidavit for Salas-Ortega, investigators were able to track him and his alleged accomplices via their cellphones and vehicle location technology that tracked them coming to Colorado from California. Additionally, investigators said the suspects cellphones showed Google searches for jewelry stores in Denver and “Hyde Park Jewelers was featured on the search.” Further linking Salas-Ortega to the Denver heist, investigators say they found pictures on his iCloud account which showed some gold earrings that were stolen during the Hyde Park episode.

Court documents say Salas-Ortega has been detained for violating his immigration status.