Carlos Valdez, like many people in Denver, Colorado, starts his car to give the defroster and interior heater time to make it more comfortable before heading to work. On March 6, Valdez was warming up his car while getting ready, expecting his car to be warm and ready to go.

What he saw, however, was a stranger getting into his Toyota Corolla, putting it in gear, and taking off with it. A second driver in a Honda CR-V with Texas plates followed closely.

“Hey, hey!” he was heard yelling on the security camera footage, released by KDVR. The thief took off, turned the corner, and his car was gone. He said his car was stolen after he returned to grab something he forgot.

““I was just right here, walking back up, I stepped up here trying to get her (his girlfriend’s) attention, I needed my water bottle,” he said. “I’m getting ready to leave, saying my goodbyes, and I was right here; I was going back this way, and we made eye contact, and I started running.”

Footage showed Carlos trying to catch the thief

Valdez knew he wasn’t going to be able to stop the thief, but he at least wanted to make it more difficult for them to steal his car with the owner inside. Instead, he tried to gather as much information as possible.

“I just wanted to try and open the door and get in, but at that point, the vehicle was already taken off, and so as I was just running, I was just trying to get plates, descriptions, anything,” he said.

Most frustratingly, Valdez said he called police to report the theft. He mentioned he had security footage, but the department’s response was disappointing. He was told a deputy “wouldn’t be responding.”

“They said, ‘Can you send us the video?’ So, we sent it. And then we got a text with the deputy’s email, and haven’t heard anything since,” his girlfriend, Adrina Atencio, recounted.

Both aren’t hopeful for getting the car back from the thief due to the lack of police response and how long it’s been since it was stolen. Atencio said it was the first car she’s ever bought, and she hated feeling helpless.

“That car was my first buy, and so it was frustrating because that was the first big thing I bought, and now it’s gone, and you just feel so helpless, and there’s nothing you can do. You can’t even be at the top of your porch without having someone come take your stuff,” she said.

Both said it could have been a lot worse

The young family is sad to see their property stolen without hope of it being returned, but both are grateful it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been.

“We lost the car and that really sucks, but thank God he doesn’t have to take our son to school in the morning and he wasn’t in the car, or we don’t have an animal in the car,” Adrina said.

Valdez said the theft was a powerful lesson to learn, and he will be warning his friends and neighbors not to leave their cars unattended.

“We consider it a loss already,” he said. “But I’d hate for this to happen to someone else.”