Sheriff’s Office Blotter

June 7

A deputy was dispatched at 7:45 a.m. to a residence on state Highway 304 in reference to a break-in and burglary. The victim said when he returned from work at 2:30 a.m. he noticed a few items had been removed from his home, including a BB gun, a 40- or 50-inch Toshiba television, a PlayStation 4, a magazine for a Glock with about 15-17 9 mm rounds inside, and a Browning Expo White Gold Medallion 270 hunting rifle. The victim believed that the burglar went to a storage shed, got a stool to stand on, and then broke through a window. He gave the deputy the name of a possible suspect he said was always getting in trouble for breaking into places nearby, but he was not sure that he was involved. Photographs were taken of footprints, tire tracks, and a crowbar that was left on scene.

A deputy was contacted at the Sheriff’s office at 4 p.m. by a man who said he was having trouble with his neighbor on Chaparral Loop. He stated that someone had carved a vulgarity into his door with a key. He said the previous night at about 10 p.m. he heard someone outside yelling that same vulgarity and making threats towards his cat. He did not look outside to see who was yelling. The officer advised him to call the State Police dispatch the next time an incident like this occurred so an attempt can be made to contact the suspect. June 23: A deputy assisted a district attorney’s office investigator at 8:29 p.m. on Interstate 25 at mile marker 152. The two occupants were arrested on a warrant from Truth or Consequences and a gun in the vehicle was seized. Both were booked into the Socorro County Detention Center. An officer was contacted by a man who said he had loaned a Geo Tracker to a woman because she did not have a vehicle, and he wanted to help her out. He said that recently he has become concerned about her lifestyle and wanted his vehicle returned. He hac tried texting and calling her but she hac not responded. The vehicle is registered and insured in his name but does not have her listed as a driver. He said he had exhausted all his means of making contact with her and wanted the incident documented. Three days later the officer located the suspect and found that she had warrant for her arrest in Otero County Magistrate Court. She was booked and incarcerated at the Socorro County Detention Center. The vehicle was recovered.

June 26

A woman came to the Sheriff’s office at 9:40 a.m. about a possible scam. She said she had received a telephone call from a collection agency and was told she was past due on a $2,000 loan. She was told the loan was made in Phoenix, Arizona, on Jan. 12. She told the officer she had not taken out the loan, nor was she in Phoenix on that date. She discovered that a credit check inquiry was run by the loan company on that same date. It appeared someone had obtained her Social Security number and birth date for the loan.

June 27

A deputy was dispatched at 11:50 a.m. to mile marker 167 on Interstate 25 to check on a white van parked on the shoulder. At the scene, the officer looked in the rear window of the van and saw a man laying down between the back seat and the back passenger side door. The officer knocked on the window but the man did not respond. The officer then went to the passenger side of the van where the man was laying and banged on the window in an attempt to get his attention, but he still did not respond. An ambulance was requested. The officer broke the front passenger side window of the van, opened the door, and found that the man was deceased. The officer canceled the ambulance and contacted the Office of Medical Investigators. The man was identified as from Aztec. His phone and phone charger were taken to help locate an emergency contact or next of kin.

June 28

A deputy was sent to the 100 block of NE Frontage Road in reference to a burglary. The victim stated that when he went outside during the morning, he noticed the back latch to his vehicle was open. Upon further inspection, he noticed that a blue tool bag, containing several small hand tools and some clothes, was taken out of the back of his vehicle. He also stated that on the previous afternoon this same vehicle had been tampered with and someone had stolen his .22 caliber semiautomatic handgun with a 10-round magazine out of the driver’s door. The area was searched for footprints but none were located.

An officer was dispatched to North Chaparral Drive in Socorro in reference to a woman’s son pointing a gun at her and at her grandchildren. The woman stated that she had taken her grandchildren inside her house and her son was still outside in his light blue van. The reporting person was standing outside her home waiting for police, and the suspect had already left. The victim said the suspect was playing with her three juvenile grandchildren. The children had come back inside and told her that he had been drinking. She told the officer that she saw him standing next to his van and she clearly saw him holding a gun and pointed it at all three of her grandchildren. She yelled at all three of her grandchildren to go inside but, by that time, the suspect had already put the gun away back in his van. She went inside her home and locked all the doors and called police but stated that she did not see him drive away while she was inside. In the meantime, a State Police officer radioed that the vehicle was spotted on the corner of Chaparral and Harold Drive, parked off of the roadway. The deputy arrived and detained the suspect, who emitted the odor of an alcoholic beverage. The suspect told the deputy the gun was under the passenger seat of the van. The suspect admitted to drinking less than a fifth of liquor before sunset. A search of the vehicle turned up a .40 caliber Glock .22 pistol, a .22 caliber rifle, a Winchester Model 37 .410 gauge shotgun, and an unmarked shotgun. After conducting the search warrant, the deputy transported the seized firearms with ammunition to the Socorro County Sheriff’s office where they were logged into evidence. The suspect was charged with DWI and aggravated assault with a weapon, and booked into the SCDC.

July 3

Deputies were dispatched at 9:20 a.m. to state Highway 304 in reference to a male possibly striking people with a piece of wood. The male, who was known to the officers, had left the scene on foot. En route to the scene, the deputy spotted the suspect walking on the road. He was cuffed and patted down. Located in his front right pocket was a small, rainbow-colored container, which contained a white, crystal like substance; money and a knife. In his left front pocket were another pocket knife and a cigarette pack that had two small bags containing a white, crystal-like, substance. He was placed into the rear seat of the police car. At the scene of the incident, the female victims said he hit one of them across the back with a three-foot long piece of floorboard, threatening to beat them to death with it, and then left the residence. The suspect claimed that the victims hit him instead and that the substances found in his pocket were not methamphetamines. The three bags and containers found on the man field tested positive for meth. The suspect was arrested and booked into the SCDC.

July 4

A deputy patrolling the area of Lemitar Lane at 12:42 a.m. spotted a silver Dodge parked in a back corner of the Sagrada Familia de Lemitar Church parking lot with its lights on. There were no other vehicles around it and the deputy thought it strange for there to be a vehicle parked there at that time of night. The officer decided to do a welfare check on the driver of the vehicle and recognized the driver from previous narcoticsrelated encounters. The driver said he was waiting for a friend coming from out of town. When asked who his friend was, the driver said his friend lived nearby. Based on previous encounters with the driver, the officer detained him and moved the police unit behind the Dodge. When the officer returned to the driver’s window the driver was speaking to someone on the phone. While waiting for him to finish his phone call, the officer was able clearly see money on the front seats of the car in $100, $50, $20 and $5 bills. The radio had also been pulled away from the dash. The driver was asked to step out of the vehicle and a check with the National Crime Information Center showed he had a warrant for his arrest for trafficking narcotics. After the suspect was handcuffed and placed in the patrol car, the vehicle was sealed and towed to the State Police office in Escondida while waiting for a search warrant. The suspect was taken to the Socorro County Sheriff’s office for paperwork. After attaining a medical clearance, he was booked into SCDC for his arrest warrant. The vehicle was searched the next day, which turned up a very large amount of cash in $100, $50, $20, $10, $5 and $1 bills. All of the money under the seat and around the dash area of the vehicle was gathered and placed into an evidence bag. Also found were a black digital scale with a white, powdery substance on it; a large crystal; a bag containing a white, powdery, crystallike substance; several used syringes; and other possible narcotics and drug paraphernalia. Three cell phones were also seized from the vehicle. At the conclusion of the search warrant, the money and the suspect’s identification card were taken for safekeeping and the money was counted at the Socorro County Sheriff’s office on video. The other seized evidence was logged into evidence at the Socorro County Sheriff’s office. Charges are pending further investigation.

July 9

An officer was dispatched at 4:15 p.m. to an address near Trevino Road and Escobar Road in Veguita in reference to someone attempting to steal a flatbed trailer. The victim stated that she witnessed an older black and gray Dodge truck drive into her property to the southwest of her home. A male got out and hooked up a flatbed trailer to the Dodge, and he attempted to leave with it, but the trailer got caught on a railroad tie while they were leaving the property. The male disconnected the trailer and left northbound on Escobar. The victim was able to take pictures of the truck but they were not clear and did not show the suspects. The officer took pictures of the trailer and the tire tracks from the Dodge truck. Deputies patrolled the Veguita area looking for the Dodge truck without success.

Socorro County Sheriff's office