Grand jury indicts man for burglary

By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS – Juan Carlos Rios, 26, of 828 E. Sage St., Grants, has been indicted by he 13th Judicial District grand jury in connection with one count each of felony commercial burglary, larceny (over $250), and criminal damage to property (under $1,000), both misdemeanors.

The indictment states that on July 25, Rios entered Surf Shack Pizza at 320 Stephens without permission.

“Rios stole about $300 from the restaurant’s cash register,” said Grants Police Lt. Corey Allen. “Rios broke through the front glass door about 1:10 a.m., and took cash out of the cash register and left everything else alone.”

Blood was found on the cash register, possible from a cut sustained when Rios broke the glass door, states Cibola County Magistrate Court records.

“A fresh footprint was found in mud outside the restaurant and it was photographed for in addition to collecting a blood sample,” Allen said.

Fingerprints were also found and gathered into evidence.

While officers were at the scene investigating the burglary, a woman approached Cpl. Salvador Corral and told him that Rios had called her and asked her to pick him up at a residence in Grants

She said he was acting scared and nervous and was out of breath when she picked him up. She was supposed to take him to a local motel but they never made it there, court records state.

She told police he had a fresh cut on one of his hands.

The woman also said when a New Mexico State Police car passed them, Rios told her to pull over, told her he was leaving her something under the seat to post his bail and got out of he car and walked away, court records state.

The woman said Rios did not have any money the precious day and wondered where he might have gotten some money, according to court records. Allen said the woman said she never found anything under the seat.

Police went to the address from where Rios called her and asked the resident if Rios had been there. The male occupant said Rios used his telephone to call his girlfriend, was out of breath and kept telling his girlfriend to hurry up. Rios also had a Band-Aid on his hand, court records state.

Police then wrote an affidavit for an arrest warrant, which was approved and issued by the court.

The next night Rios was arrested on the warrant by Grants police and was placed in custody in the Cibola County Detention Center.

Calling it a “smash and grab” burglar technique, Allen said Rios is a suspect in several other cases with identical methods of burglary and police were preparing to interview him on several other almost identical burglaries on the area when he was released from the detention center.

Rios was scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing in Magistrate Court on Aug. 31 but he never showed.

To contact reporter Jim Tiffin call (505) 287-2197 or e-mail: jtiffin.independent@yahoo.com.