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‘Affection for unicorns’ connects suspects to $115,000 crime spree in Denver metro area

Three suspects were connected to a series of crimes resulting in $115,000 in damages because of their “affection for unicorns,” the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday.

The suspects are accused of committing over a dozen motor vehicles thefts, multiple cases of porch piracy and nearly 30 vehicle trespasses between September 2020 and February 2021 across 12 Denver metro jurisdictions, including Boulder, Longmont and Lyons, deputies said.

Investigators were able to connect the crimes because they found various unicorn drawings and figurines with recovered stolen property and while executing of search warrants for the suspects, deputies said.

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Deputies said this pattern led the investigation to be dubbed “Operation Unicorn.”

The suspects were identified as 21-year-old Shane Michael Phillips, 36-year-old Marie Alins Roman and 44-year-old Adrian Cisco Quintana. Phillips and Roman are in custody and Quintana is at-large as of Thursday, deputies said.

The arrest warrants for the group list 53 criminal charges committed in 46 separate incidents in Boulder County alone, deputies said.

Charges include 12 counts of aggravated motor vehicle theft, 28 counts of first-degree motor vehicle trespass, criminal mischief, license plate theft, criminal trespass of property, identity theft, theft, vehicular eluding and distribution and possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia.

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Anyone with information about Quintana’s whereabout is asked to call the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office at 303-441-3600.

The Boulder Police Department, Longmont Police Department, Boulder County District Attorney’s Office and the Town of Lyons also assisted with the investigation.

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