Arvada Police Search For Gnome Thief
By Jeff Todd
ARVADA (CBS4) - It was a 20-year-old relic, weighing in at 80 pounds, but now the search is on for the thief who took the concrete gnome from in front of an Arvada business.
"He was so heavy I never moved him out of the way to clean behind him but this guy that came and took him, it was like nothing," said Gart Williams said about the replica of one of the seven dwarfs.
The statue was stolen from Tom Leeper's insurance office, but Williams put together a humorous video on YouTube about the theft.
"Don't get us wrong it's not the crime of the century, but I thought, I'll just put something together that maybe somebody will see," Williams said. "If I can expose this guy and maybe he's done it before, maybe he's going to do it again, but now maybe he's got second thoughts."
The theft happened on November 17. The same day Leeper was dealing with a health issue.
"I thought, 'who in the hell are you to come up and steal something from in front of somebody's business.' That thing has been there for 20 years," Leeper said.
In the internet video Williams narrates, "A casual thief, he also decided on the shower shoes for best possible footwear. I mean, what kind of dope steals an 80-pound statue in slippers."
Williams scanned surveillance footage and believes the thief was wearing glasses and drove off in a small SUV or minivan. Anyone with information should contact Arvada Police.
"I want the guy to be exposed," Williams said. "Of course I want him caught."
Jeff Todd joined the CBS4 team in 2011 covering the Western Slope in the Mountain Newsroom. Since 2015 he's been working across the Front Range in the Denver Headquarters. Follow him on Twitter @CBS4Jeff.
