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Officer: Teens' spree for 'fun of it'

Crimes detailed in court; police say two confessed

By Melanie Asmar, Special to the Rocky

Published December 19, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Brandin Kreuzer faces 123 counts in monthlong crime spree.

Brandin Kreuzer faces 123 counts in monthlong crime spree.

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Two teenagers went on a monthlong crime spree stealing luxury vehicles and robbing businesses and climaxing with the shooting of a sheriff's deputy during a car chase, investigators said in court Thursday.

Brandin Kruezer, 19, of Sedalia, faces 123 charges, including attempted first-degree murder of a peace officer, armed robbery and car theft.

Kruezer is the son of veteran Denver police officer Kevin Kreuzer.

Judge Susanna Meissner-Cutler found probable cause to continue the case.

Taylor Moudy, 19, of Castle Rock, faces more than 120 charges in the case.

Both teens have confessed, law enforcement officials said.

Lead investigator Jason Weaver of the Douglas County Sheriff's Office gave the following account during Thursday's preliminary hearing:

The crime spree began on May 29 with a few burglaries. The biggest item stolen that night was a black Lexus from a Castle Rock neighborhood.

Two nights later, the teens went to another neighborhood. They allegedly stole a red Ford Mustang from a trailer in a driveway, two motorcycle tires out of a garage and a laptop computer from a house.

On June 4, police said, they robbed a Castle Rock gun shop called Cold War Remarketing. Five guns, including a rifle and handgun, were taken and used to rob a Circle K convenience store in Castle Rock on June 10.

After reportedly staking out the store for an hour, the teens ordered the clerk at gunpoint to give them the money in the cash register. It was only $100, but investigators said the teens told them that they didn't do it - or any other crimes - for the cash.

"Both of them indicated it was for the fun of it," Weaver said.

After stealing several more cars, the teens upped the ante on June 21. They allegedly drove a stolen pickup truck through the glass window of the Medved Hummer dealership in Castle Rock and stole three Hummers.

The spree ended on June 28 when they stole an old Honda, as well as some other vehicles. A neighbor, who already had been burglarized, noticed suspicious people in the neighborhood and called the police.

A Douglas County sheriff's deputy spotted the Honda and tried to pull it over. A chase ensued and another officer joined in.

The teens told investigators that Moudy was driving. Kruezer admitted firing several times at the police cars through the Honda's back window.

One of the shots hit the deputy in the right arm.

Several times during the chase, Moudy slammed on the brakes, a tactic police believe was intended to close the gap between the vehicles and make the police cars easier targets.

Moudy drove onto a dirt road, where the dust obscured the officers' vision, and the teens ditched the car and ran.

Moudy and Kreuzer were arrested five months later.

Kruezer told police he shot at the officers to make them back off and that afterwards, he felt suicidal about what he'd done, said Castle Rock Detective Kal Collins.

"He said his dad was a police officer and his dad had been shot," Collins said, "and that it made him sick that he was on the same level as the person who shot his father."

Kruezer led officers to stolen guns and property he had hidden in his room and buried in his front yard, Collins said.

Kreuzer is being held at the Arapahoe County Detention Center on $3 million bail. He is scheduled to appear in court again on Jan. 26.

Moudy will appear in court that same day for his preliminary hearing.

Comments

  • December 19, 2008

    7:06 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    The_KIMN_Chicken writes:

    How did two people steal three Hummers? And driving a truck through the lobby doesn't trigger an alarm?

  • December 19, 2008

    7:07 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Retread writes:

    I bet Daddy will be proud of his boy now!

  • December 19, 2008

    1:53 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    rdfland writes:

    I wonder what his dad's going to do to him. I'd laugh if he put them in general population and told the inmates they were kids of a cop.