John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today
It was after a visit to the Avon Home Depot that state Rep. Dylan Roberts realized just how much of a problem retail theft has been causing for Colorado stores and consumers alike, he said.
Employees of the Avon Home Depot spoke about something that has come to be known as “organized retail theft” where people from around Colorado and beyond steal large quantities of “high value items” and then resell those items online to unsuspecting buyers, Roberts said.
“It’s become a real problem, not only in Colorado but across the country,” Roberts said in an interview Thursday. “So, that tour really kicked off a lot of research and conversations for me to figure out what we might be able to do at the state level to help protect businesses from this type of theft.”
It wasn’t long before Roberts, a Democrat from Avon, co-sponsored House Bill 1099 with Rep. Terri Carver, a Republican from Colorado Springs who had been hearing similar stories from her own constituents.
The bill, which passed through the Colorado House of Representatives Wednesday, seeks to combat retail crime and fraudulent online marketplace sellers, Roberts said Thursday.
If signed into law, the bill would require online marketplaces like Amazon and…
