Two owners of Colorado towing businesses and 10 other people have been indicted on 187 criminal counts in an alleged vehicle-theft and fraud operation that prosecutors say ran for three years and caused about $2.5 million in losses. Oscar Salinas and Zaki Merhazi were taken into custody last week and are being held in Denver, according to the Denver District Attorney’s Office, which announced the grand jury indictment Thursday. The allegations include vehicle theft, forged ownership documents and deceptive towing practices. The defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty. The indictment names Salinas’ brother, Moses Herrera; his sister, Kassandra Salinas; and his girlfriend, Gisselle Varela-Rocha. Merhazi’s girlfriend, Haley Gutierrez-Seib, is also charged, along with Fernando Medina-Caraballo, Peter Swaab, Ronald Carreras, Albert Delgado, Ruben Martinez and Valentina Guzman. All are between 23 and 30 years old, according to the charging information. Six counts stem from alleged towing incidents in March and April. Prosecutors say Salinas sometimes arrived at crash scenes with a tow truck and persuaded drivers to let him take their damaged vehicles. Lesley Campos said Salinas approached her after a March 20 crash on Sheridan Boulevard, claiming he had been alerted by an emergency SOS message from her phone. Campos said she agreed to have her truck moved out of traffic, but then faced pressure and inflated charges as she tried to retrieve it from a storage yard. She told CBS Colorado that Salinas demanded a signed title and that the company sought cash without providing a receipt. Campos said she contacted police and recovered her truck for less than $1,200. Other crash victims were asked to pay as much as $8,000 to get their vehicles back, the indictment alleges. Most of the counts involve alleged forged registrations, titles, invoices, repossession statements and powers of attorney. Prosecutors say the documents were used to secure ownership of numerous vehicles, including luxury cars, pickup trucks, trailers and tow trucks. The alleged losses affected vehicle owners, dealerships, lenders, insurers and the state. The indictment also describes several high-value vehicle schemes. It alleges Salinas and Delgado staged the carjacking of a rented Lamborghini Urus in Dallas in July 2025, then altered its appearance after bringing it to Colorado. The $184,000 vehicle has not been found, prosecutors say. In a separate alleged scheme, Salinas changed the vehicle identification number on his own Lamborghini Huracan and reported it stolen to seek an insurance payout; investigators later found it at his girlfriend’s Denver residence. Prosecutors also allege Salinas and Herrera stole another Lamborghini Urus from a Florida dealership and modified it after bringing it to Colorado. Investigators recovered it outside Salinas’ Lakewood home as Herrera allegedly tried to move it using a stolen tow truck. The alleged operation ran from June 2023 through September 2026, according to the indictment. Salinas’ businesses included Supreme Towing, On Time Towing and Greg’s Towing and Recovery. Merhazi’s businesses, Denver Commercial Services and Blue Mountain Towing Ltd., were based in Aurora. The Colorado Auto Theft Prevention Authority and its metropolitan auto theft task force led the investigation, with assistance from the state Division of Motor Vehicles, the Public Utilities Commission and the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Authority Director Robert Force said investigators devoted thousands of hours to the case. Merhazi, Herrera and Gutierrez-Seib were scheduled for court hearings Friday. Salinas is scheduled to appear Oct. 29, according to the report.