WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. -- A tip from a viewer led CALL7 Investigators to a parking lot in Jefferson County, where thousands of documents with sensitive private information were left out for anyone to see.

The documents, which included sales records, employment information, credit card numbers, Social Security information and bank statements were placed in the parking lot after a plumbing company had been evicted from the building.

A Jefferson County Sheriff's deputy oversaw the eviction, but told CALL7 Investigator Tony Kovaleski that he did not see the personal information.

"I did not see the box files. I saw a couple file cabinets. I went through several closets, but I didn't see checks or credit cards," said Deputy Mark Turner.

Turner was responsible for supervising the location, and that meant making sure a court order was followed and a moving company removed all the belongings of the plumbing company. As part of Jefferson County policy, deputies overseeing an eviction are supposed to remove anything that could be used in a crime.

"I did not know these were here, things like old checks from 1994 or anything like that," said Turner.

One of those checks belonged to Harold and Virginia Lees, a couple from Golden.

"It seems like [Jefferson County sheriff's deputies] could have done a lot better job of taking care of the problem," Harold Lees said.

Officials with the sheriff's department agreed.

"The sheriff's office takes this stuff extremely seriously and we do everything we can to ensure people's identity is not compromised," said Jim Shires, spokesman for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.

After recognizing the risk inside the files, sheriff's deputies removed all the sensitive documents.

"We're concerned about all of our citizens and their identity theft and their safety," Shires said.

The owner of the plumbing company told 7NEWS a series of health issues ultimately led to his failure to pay rent and the eviction. He did not know the personal information of his customers and employees were left in the open until told by 7NEWS.