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Denver Police Seek Help Of Body Shops To Find Hit & Run Drivers

DENVER (CBS4) - First it was Medina Alerts, now there are Auto Body Alerts. Denver police on Wednesday announced a new tool to help track down hit-and-run drivers.

There are 34 body shops in the city of Denver that are now part of the Denver Auto Body Alert Program. Police are hoping shops will help them track down damaged cars that have left the scene of a crime.

AUTO BODY ALERT
The announcement on Wednesday (credit: CBS)

Police say shops that sign up will get an email blast and fax with the description of a suspect's car, license plate number, and what kind of damage it might have after a hit-and-run with a person or another vehicle.

"We were able to solve a case with the info that they provided and the vehicle that they had currently in their body shop," said Denver Police Detective Dave Ryan.

Police say often times the drivers will either try to hide the car used in the crime or they'll try to get the damage fixed right away.

"There are those individuals that attempt to destroy that evidence and we have recovered vehicles that have been involved in fatal and serious injury collisions inside of automotive shops where the person told the owner there that they were involved in some other type of accident -- everything from 'I hit a deer' to 'I hit a garbage can going down the alleyway,' " Lt. Robert Rock with Denver police said.

One shop owner told CBS4 there are ways of distinguishing whether a driver hit a person or a deer.

Diamond Paint and Auto Body is one of the first shops to sign up. The owner said they will do what they can to help police put suspects behind bars.

"If we can at least get one that would make an impact on our victims that would be a happy feeling for us," said Diamond Paint and Auto Body owner "Spanky" Rivers.

Denver police say they hope every shop in the city will sign up for the program.

Shops that would like to join the Denver Auto Body Alert Program can register online.

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