Overview

• Brian Chacon, 34, who ran Eagle Wing Towing in Aurora, pleaded guilty to motor vehicle theft, forgery, and operating a chop shop and was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
• Investigators say he used his tow truck from April 2023 to February 2024 to take unoccupied vehicles across the Denver metro area and then forged documents to sell them.
• Authorities confirmed 48 stolen vehicles, could not verify ownership for 29 more, and reported more than 80 vehicles sold to salvage yards during the scheme.
• Detectives placed a GPS tracker on his tow truck and used Flock camera footage to connect it to dozens of thefts, which prosecutors described as a calculated operation.
• Prosecutors highlighted gaps in Public Utilities Commission and salvage-yard procedures, including bill-of-sale sales without title and one-time VIN checks that allowed quick scrapping.