One Man’s One Hour Crime Spree: 8 Carjackings, 1 Attempted Carjacking, 2 Home Invasions, 1 Burglary, and 1 Homicide

AURORA, COLORADO – More than a dozen residents of Aurora were terrorized by a man in 13 separate incidents within an hour on Wednesday afternoon. According to Aurora Police, the hour of terror began around 3:21 p.m. in the 14000 block of E. Idaho Drive.

The suspect took a woman’s purse at gunpoint and when she refused his demands to hand over her car keys, he fired several shots and fled on foot. He would go on to be successful in stealing 8 cars from their owners, killing one of his victims in the process.

“A lot of these people were either at intersections or at businesses or in shopping centers. It was just he found people inside their car, forcefully removed them at gunpoint. Extremely scary situation,” said Aurora PD spokesperson Matt Longshore.

The investigation spans 18 different crime scenes, each with evidence to process and witnesses to interview. “We have investigators from basically all of our units. We have district detectives, we have gang robbery detectives, we have our major crime unit detectives. All these people working together to piece together this case. The important part is he is in custody and not doing this, thankfully. Seventy minutes of pure terror in the city of Aurora and Denver ended with him in custody,” Longshore said.

The man in custody has been identified as 32-year-old Andrew Jacobs. APD said that his crime spree consisted of eight carjackings, one attempted carjacking, two home invasions, one burglary and one homicide, and the department provided a timeline of events.

3:21 p.m.: 14000 block E. Idaho Drive: Armed Robbery – Victim robbed of her purse at gunpoint. She refused his demands for her car keys. He fired shots and fled on foot.

3:29 p.m.: 14000 block E. Iowa Drive: Homicide/Carjacking – Suspect approached a victim while parking, broke out the driver side window, fatally shot the victim and stole the 2008 Black Dodge Dakota. APD recovered the first victim’s purse at this scene.

The stolen truck was abandoned in the 1300 block of S. Memphis Street. The suspect then entered a home in the 1200 block of S. Memphis Street, pistol whipped a resident and fled on foot.

3:32 p.m.: 1200 block S. Lewiston Street – Home Invasion/Carjacking – Suspect entered a home and forced occupant to hand over car keys at gunpoint, taking a 2014 White Acura RDX. The car was abandoned in the 15500 block of E. Center Avenue.

3:39 p.m.:  490 block S. Chambers Road – Carjacking – Suspect stole a white Subaru sedan at gunpoint, then abandoned it in the 420 block of N. Chambers Road.

3:39 p.m.:  490 block S. Chambers Road – Carjacking – Suspect stole a white Subaru sedan at gunpoint, then abandoned it in the 420 block of N. Chambers Road.

4:00 p.m.: 15200 block E. 6th Avenue – Carjacking – Suspect stole a green Kia Sportage at gunpoint, then abandoned it in the 15200 block of E. 38^th.

The next act was an unsuccessful carjacking attempt in the 3750 block of Chambers Road; however, he stole a red Chevy Equinox at gunpoint in the 3790 block of Chambers Road. It was abandoned at Chambers Road and Maxwell Street.

The next armed carjacking was in the 15000 block of E. Randolph Drive, where he stole a Hyundai Santa Fe, which he parked in the garage of a home in the 5570 block of Jasper St.

He then stole a victim’s Ford F450 at gunpoint in the 15600 block of E. Randolph Drive. Upon crashing the Ford at 56th Avenue and Pena Blvd., he stole a Nissan Murano at gunpoint. The crash of the Nissan at 4:32 p.m. ended the spree.  Striking several vehicles at 56th Ave. and E-470, the suspect suffered serious injuries and was taken into custody by the Denver Police Department.

The identities of the victims have not been made public, including that of the homicide victim. The investigation will take a considerable amount of time and effort on the part of the APD.