Three individuals were arrested Monday morning on firearm possession charges during a law enforcement anti-auto-theft operation within Colorado Springs and El Paso County.

The “Beat Auto Theft Through Law Enforcement” operation was part of an effort by the Colorado Springs Police Department to reduce the number of motor vehicle thefts.

On Monday, police recovered four vehicles and arrested three individuals. Police said all three were armed with loaded guns at the time of arrest.

Mykael Weathington, 18, was charged with felony vehicle eluding, motor vehicle theft, resisting arrest and possession of a 9 mm Glock handgun with the serial numbers defaced.

James Penny, 19, was charged with unlawful possession of a concealed 9 mm handgun, and Donivaul Collins, 18, was charged with unlawful possession of a concealed AR-15 pistol.

Department spokesperson Ira Cronin told the Gazette that thanks to concerted efforts like this, motor vehicle theft numbers are decreasing after spiking earlier in the year. 

Prior to Sept. 1, the department was doing  these recovery operations once a week. Since then, the department has increased efforts, averaging two to three operations a week. 

As of the end of September, Cronin says the department had begun to see the work paying off. In September there were 50 motor vehicle theft arrests with five deployments. A majority of these operations have been funded through grants, he said. 

Cronin said motor vehicle thefts in September were down 26% comared to August and down 50% compared to July, when the there were just over 500 vehicle thefts reported. In September, the total number of thefts fell to 256. 

September statistics for this year are also lower than the previous two years, according to Cronin.