Local
Stolen tools sideline Denver HVAC startup for a week as owner seeks police investigation
A break-in cost Peak HVAC owner Elliot Charles nearly $8,000 in tools and left his new business unable to work for about a week. He says he wants Denver police to investigate and help recover the equipment, not donations.
A Denver heating and air-conditioning business was forced to stop working for about a week after nearly $8,000 worth of tools were stolen from its work van, according to owner Elliot Charles.
Charles said he discovered the theft on the morning of Oct. 12, when he found that someone had smashed the van’s passenger-side window and taken the equipment he uses for jobs. The loss came just months after he launched Peak HVAC Heating & Air Conditioning LLC, he said.
“We were out of business for pretty much a week,” Charles said.
Charles said he left an engineering career in Houston to return to Colorado with his family and start the company, putting tens of thousands of dollars — including his life savings — into getting it operating. He said his commercial auto insurance does not cover the stolen tools, leaving him to pay to replace them.
He filed a police report, but said no officer came to the scene. Charles said an officer told him by phone that there was no one available to help. He wants police to investigate and recover the equipment, and said he is not seeking donations.
“I need the police to do their job so that I could do my job,” Charles said.
Charles said he has invested in security and insurance, but remains reluctant to reload the van because he worries the tools could be stolen again. The loss has also shaken his sense of safety, he said.
Under Colorado law, theft involving property valued between $5,000 and $20,000 is classified as a Class 5 felony. Denver police had not responded to a request for comment at the time the story was published.