COLORADO — Sunday marks the start of Colorado's "Puffer Week"- a week dedicated to educating people about "puffing" or leaving your car running while unattended.
With Colorado's cold winters, it can be tempting to leave the car running and warm yourself up inside. However, under Colorado law it is illegal unless your vehicle has a remote start feature.
"Obviously if your vehicle is on and running and there's nobody in there there's a good chance that criminal is going to be able to drive that away," said Lieutenant Jim Sokolik, Public Information Officer with Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD).
Coloradans Against Auto Theft (CAAT) and Colorado Auto Theft Investigators (CATI) are working with local law enforcement departments during the week to ramp up awareness efforts for Puffer Week. CSPD will be posting information throughout the week on its social media pages.
According to the Colorado Auto Theft Intelligence Coordination Center (ATICC) 20,230 vehicles stolen across the state in 2019. If you'd like to see a map with some of the areas that have the highest reports of auto theft click the following link: Colorado Auto Theft Data.
