Items taken from officer reports at the Socorro County Sheriff’s Department:

Nov. 9

  • Beginning in early 2020 a detective met with a reliable confidential source. The source had assisted the department for some time and had provided evidence and information about narcotic cases for over a year and had made numerous controlled narcotic purchases from several different suspects. The source informed the detective that they had purchased narcotics from a male subject on Peralta Drive and could make controlled purchases from the male at any time. The source was provided with a specific amount of money and instructed to use the money to purchase methamphetamine from the male at his residence. The source was escorted to the area of the residence and was seen approaching and leaving the front yard. After the purchase was made the source handed over the controlled substance that the source was told to purchase. The detective then made contact with a second reliable confidential source who said they had recently made personal use purchases from the same male. The source was provided a specific amount of money and then sent to the residence. The detective was able to see the source approach the home and then leave. At a pre-determined location, the source provided the officer with the methamphetamine which they were told to purchase. Over the course of seven months, no less than 10 purchases were made from the male at his residence. The detective obtained a search warrant for the residence and the detective met with sheriff’s deputies and briefed them on the execution of the search warrant. Once on the scene, it was evident that law enforcement presence became known when a male subject could be seen by the detective running out the back door and entering a small shed. The detective made contact with him and with the force necessary he was taken into custody. A female in the shed was also taken into custody. Later a backpack contained methamphetamine, heroin, and a .38 handgun were located. A search of the residence was completed and narcotics and narcotic paraphernalia were located throughout the home. Officers In one bedroom officers found 10 bindles of heroin, identically wrapped and appeared packaged for sale. The packaging matched the packaging on a recent controlled purchase. in the kitchen area, a small plastic baggy with a white crystal-like substance, that later tested positive for methamphetamine was located in a drawer. One male suspect was arrested for possession of heroin and methamphetamine. A second male suspect was arrested for resisting, evading, and obstructing. Several other subjects located in and out of the residence were also charged with various crimes associated with evidence located on their person or near them at the time of the arrest.
  • A woman came into the sheriff’s office at 10:30 a.m. to report that she had been scammed. The victim said that she needed a report because she was scared and she needed a report for the bank. She said she and a guy became friends on Facebook on Oct. 6 and on Oct. 31 he asked for her bank account information. The victim stated that she gave him her bank account information because she thought she could trust him. She stated that he deposited $1,000 into her bank account at Nusenda Credit Union, and he then asked her to send back to him two $500 gift cards. She stated that she bought a third gift card for $200. The victim was able to provide a written statement about the event and it was attached to this report.
  • An officer was dispatched at 6:30 p.m. to a residence in Veguita in reference to a father sexually assaulting his daughter. As the officer approached the home, the father drove up and was asked to wait outside. Inside the residence, the mother told the officer they had all gone fishing earlier that day at one of the channels until about 5 p.m. She said that her husband had been drinking a lot that day and she was driving because her husband had drunk so much. The mother told the officer they went to go get some hay for their animals and when they were driving home she heard her daughter yell out, and when she asked what had happened, the daughter, who was sitting between them on the front seat, said that her father had tried to grab her vagina. She said her dad put his hand on her inner leg and started moving his hand upward toward her groin area. When she hit him and told him to stop and he moved his hand. She told the officer that her father told them that he thought he was touching his wife. Outside, the father denied touching his daughter in any way like that and said he had never touched anyone inappropriately. He claimed that his wife tries to get him in trouble all the time and she tells his daughters things about him to make them say things about him. He was told that he needed to stay away from the house until the investigation was completed. He agreed and left the home. A CYFD SCI report was filed on the matter.
  • An officer was dispatched to a residence on Highway 304 about a vehicle being stolen. At the scene, the complainant said that he used to be a caretaker for a woman who died earlier that year who owned some property and over the last few months much of that property has gone missing. He said that she owned an orange 1⁄2 ton Chevy flatbed truck on her property and he had seen someone towing that vehicle on San Lorenzo and that’s why he called 911. He told the officer that the truck had broken down in the roadway and the people who were in it took it to a house on San Lorenzo and left it there. The deputy located the house and could see the orange Chevy truck in the driveway. The property owner said that two of his friends had come to his house about an hour before and asked him if they could leave the truck there at his house until they could come back and get it and he told them yes. He denied knowing that the truck was stolen and told the deputy he did not know where it came from or why they had it. The truck was towed and the officer will attempt to contact a family member or next of kin to the deceased woman to find out if the truck was stolen.

Nov. 10

  • A deputy was dispatched at 9:30 a.m. to Highway 304 in Veguita in reference to a vehicle that had been damaged. Dispatch informed that this was a delayed report and the suspect was no longer there. At the scene, the victim said that she believes her sister-in-law had keyed her vehicle. The reason she gave was that the day before the sister-in-law had yelled at her and accused her of calling CYFD on her. She stated that when she walked outside she witnessed the sister-in-law walking away from her vehicle and she noticed the scratch along the passenger side of the vehicle. She also stated that she would be pursuing a restraining order against her sister-in-law.
  • An officer was asked to assist State Police in pursuit of a red Toyota Camry around the 170 mile marker on Interstate 25 going north. The vehicle was traveling at speeds of over 100 mph and not stopping. At the 190 mile marker, the vehicle turned around and was now traveling south into oncoming traffic in the northbound lanes. The Sheriff’s Department officer was driving north at about the 175 mile marker when the Camry passed at a high rate of speed in the southbound lanes of traffic. The officer turned around to catch up to the vehicle which was maintaining his lane and speed at around 80-85 mph. At milepost 169 the Camry jerked across all lanes of travel and exited, and then came to a complete stop at the bottom of the exit. The officer stayed at the top of the exit and while waiting for a second unit gave commands on the loudspeaker for the driver to turn off the vehicle. There was no response. The State Police officer arrived and as they approached the vehicle sped off and drove south on the interstate again at speeds between 75 and 110 mph. At the San Acacia exit almost struck a tow truck and exited, speeding through the stop sign and getting back on the interstate. The pursuit continued at high speeds and the driver exited into Lemitar where the State Police officer Matthew was able to get ahead of the Camry, which was unsuccessfully trying to get back onto the interstate. The driver drove into Lemitar where cars were having to pull off the road to avoid the Camry. The Camry went through a residential street and got onto the E. Frontage road and began driving north at speeds between 60 and 80 mph. After about three more miles the driver turned into a gated residence in San Acacia which the officer knew to be a dead end. As he was blocked in, the driver got out of the vehicle with his hands up. He refused to follow commands and had to be subdued to be handcuffed. He was yelling that he did not run from the officers and did not know what he was being arrested for. The officer had previously come into contact with the suspect and in the last encounter he also fought with deputies during an arrest. He made the statement that day that he will always run and dose it for an adrenaline rush. The suspect was taken for medical clearance and booked into the Socorro County Detention Center.
  • An officer was dispatched at 2:30 p.m., I was dispatched to the Veguita Post Office in reference to a victim locating some stolen property of hers. Upon arrival, she told the officer about a month ago her Ford F250 and black trailer which was hooked up to the truck were stolen in Valencia County. She stated that she found her engine to the stolen Ford F250 for sale on Offerup.com. She recognized her engine because the coil packs were held on by duct tape. Also, the engine was photographed sitting on the stolen trailer. The victim tried to meet with the person selling the engine but the seller did not meet up and the account that posted the engine for sale appeared to be fake. Then they heard that her stolen property might be at a Veguita address. She told officers that she and her husband went to the address and saw their stolen trailer and what appeared to be the doors off of her stolen F250. An NCIC check showed the vehicle as stolen. A search warrant was obtained and officers knocked on the doors announcing their presence. No one was home and officers searched the home. The victim and her husband arrived on the scene and began to notice a lot of the parts of their vehicle that had been stolen. On the property, officers found the four white doors belonging to the stolen truck.
  • They also found the trailer, the steering column to the truck, the back seat to the truck, the center council to the truck, and a large pile of interior parts like dashboards in the back of another truck on the property. The officer left a signed copy of the search warrant on the couch in the living room and completed a return and inventory for the search warrant. Charges were filed.

Nov. 19

  • An officer spoke with a female calling from Veguita at 3:45 p.m. who reported that her boyfriend became drunk and verbally abusive towards her and the children because she is positive for Covid-19. She called his boss to come over and the boyfriend “got physical” with his boss. She said her boyfriend’s boss owns the house they live in and he lives nearby. The boyfriend left on foot after the incident. I advised her to call 911 if Isaac returned and was threatening her, and then asked Dispatch to inform any responding deputies about the positive Covid-19 at the residence.

Nov. 20

  • An officer met with the male victim at 10 a.m. in Polvadera who reported dogs killing livestock. He said sometime in the previous night, stray dogs entered a pen of his goats and badly wounded at least six of them. The officer helped the owner dispatch four fatally wounded goats, but he chose to keep the others alive in hope of them recovering. He reported that this has been an ongoing problem for years, and the Sheriff’s office has taken several reports of dogs killing his goats in the last several months. He said he didn’t think there is no single set of problem dogs, but believed they likely came from a nearby trailer park where numerous dogs are roaming at will. The officer I told him that when possible deputies will patrol the ditch bank east of his corrals and shoot stray dogs.

Nov. 24

  • An officer received a CYFD intake report regarding a female subject’s drug use. The report said that a family member was concerned over the woman’s drug use. The family member told the officer that her brother had been in a long term relationship with the female for over 20 years, but had recently passed away as a result of his drug use. She said she was concerned about the drug use and the effects it might have on her and the son. She said she recently had the boy for about three days and that during that time he expressed to her that he liked being with her because her home was better than his. The officer was shown text messages from the woman recently where she was claiming that “slugs were coming out of her body.” The family member said that she believed that the female was picking at her skin due to her meth use. The officer made contact with CYFD and then went to the home in question and made contact with the female subject and the boy. The home was dirty, and the woman did show signs of drug abuse such as scars and scabs on her face commonly associated with meth use. The officer did locate evidence of narcotic use, indicating that the female was using heroin. She admitted to using both meth and heroin. The boy was voluntarily placed into the custody of another family member.

 

El Defensor Chieftain