DENVER (CBS4) — A 20-year-old Denver man pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges alleging his involvement in two smash-and-grab break-ins at firearms dealerships and an armed carjacking. Jonathan Estrada signed a plea agreement with prosecutors who accused him of being part of a violent organization that stole vehicles and guns.
Per the details stipulated the plea agreement, Estrada and another person burglarized Reloader’s Corner in Arvada on September 19, 2017. The pair threw rocks threw a window to gain access and made off with 17 guns.
Estrada was a juvenile at the time, an official with the Denver office of the United States Attorney General’s Office confirmed for CBS4. His DNA was found on a gun case counter.
Three months later, Estrada and another person took part in an armed carjacking in Arvada. Gunshots were allegedly fired. When detectives later found the car, three of the stolen guns from the Reloader’s theft were inside it.
Mid-January of 2018, Estrada and five other individuals threw rocks through glass at Murdoch’s Ranch and Home Supply in Littleton and left with 13 “AR-style” weapons, as described by prosecutors. The six thieves left in a stolen car.
Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives obtained a search warrant and raided Estrada’s residence that night. Guns from both burglaries and the carjacking were found inside.
Law enforcement personnel from several local agencies — Arvada, Lakewood, Aurora, and Denver police departments, and the Jefferson County and Douglas County sheriff’s offices — assisted federal agents during the course of the investigation.
