Crime remains low in Niwot

According to Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle, crime in Niwot remains relatively low.

In the past year, there have only been three auto thefts in the Niwot area. “One was a trailer that was stolen out of the parking lot at the church on 95th Street,” Pelle said. “The trailer was recovered in Denver and there were no suspects…One automotive was a puffer: a truck that was running outside of Gunbarrel [Import] Motors. That car and the suspects were apprehended in Broomfield…And the third one was a vehicle stolen from the Niwot park-n-ride. And it was found dumped back in the same parking lot, six days later. There were no leads.”

“The key is don’t leave your car running, don’t leave your child in your car, and don’t leave your key in the car when it’s warming up,” Pelle said. “Don’t leave your puffer sitting out for someone to take.”

Aside from the car thefts, there was a robbery at the Niwot Liquor store. “There were a couple of suspects within that store. One of the suspects distracted the employee and another one went into the back office and took some cash. We were able to get the fingerprints. Those at the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are processing the fingerprints. No arrests have been made, but we did collect evidence that may lead to an arrest eventually,” said Pelle.

Overall, the crime rate is low in Niwot compared to other areas statewide, Pelle reported. “We had a total of six burglaries,” he said. “There were three burglaries where homeowners were home and someone would force the window or door open. Usually there would only be a small number of items stolen. One of the trespassers was scared off by an alarm. One trespasser went inside just to use the bathroom in someone’s home and left. And the other three burglaries occurred at a construction site.”

The most recent incident in the Niwot area, other than traffic accidents where the Sheriff’s Department was involved, occurred on Oct. 20, where investigators say that a weed wacker sparked the grassfire off of North Lakeridge Trail. The fire grew to about 19 acres, forcing a handful of evacuations and a wider evacuation warning for the Lakeridge Trail and Nelson Road area before fire crews were able to reach containment on the fire that evening. No homes were damaged, but the fire did burn about 150 feet of fence line.