By Shannon Lukens.
More locals are telling Steamboat Radio about their vehicles being stolen out of parking lots near Denver International Airport, after Friday’s Steamboat Radio story which had a list of residents affected.
John Layman lives just outside of Hayden. He and his family took their 2005 GMC Duramax 4-door shortbed pickup down to Denver and parked it at Quality Inn and Suites on Tower Road on March 24. When they got back from spring break on April 1, it was gone.
“My truck actually was deemed a total loss. It was stripped. It had drug paraphernalia in it. And we use this truck for hauling water to our horses and livestock so it’s a huge loss for our family.”
Photos courtesy John Layman from USAA Insurance company who is in charge of the claim.
They couldn’t get a rental car big enough that had 4-wheel drive for the snow so a company truck went down to DIA to pick up the family.
“The process itself is just very time consuming. People don’t have to time to be driving back and forth to Denver to deal with this situation. There’s so much more devastation that follows the actual theft beyond the car itself.”
Here is a picture of the truck hauling the family’s horse trailer.
“How are you going to feasibly get by if you have livestock if you don’t have a pickup truck anymore that’s hauling your trailers and your water. It may not be as easy as just getting a rental car. I think that’s something to think about if you are going to fly out of DIA, you need to be real cautious and think about what’s going to be in your vehicle.
Layman has had to pay $1000 deductible to his insurance company plus replace everything in the truck, including car seats for the kids. He says he’ll be getting a lawyer to help with restitution.
The truck was found by Westminster Police. It’s totaled. Layman says it was involved in a police chase.
Layman also got a speeding ticket notice from the City of Denver with a picture of someone else driving his truck. He has reached to Westminster Police to give them that picture, but has not yet heard back. We have also reached out to Detective Sanders with Westminster Police for details but he is on medical leave. If you know who may be in the picture, email Detective Sanders with Westminster Police at SSanders@CityofWestminster.com or call 303-657-4300, ext. 4029.
We have also left a message with Quality Inn and Suites (6890 Tower Road) General Manager David Kang to find out how many vehicles have been stolen from their lot and to ask them to release the video to us to help find the person who stole the Layman family’s truck. We have not heard back.