Posted on 08/25/2005 11:24:10 AM PDT by SwinneySwitch
A county-wide manhunt is on for a Zaragoza, Coah., Mexico man who sheriff’s office investigators say has helped break into homes and buildings on as many as six area ranches in the past week.
Val Verde County Sheriff A. D’Wayne Jernigan and Lt. Larry Pope, who heads the sheriff’s office criminal investigations division, Wednesday issued a modern-day “wanted poster” bearing a photograph of Leonardo Miguel Arriaga-Alverez, 17.
Jernigan said sheriff’s office deputies were dispatched Sunday to the residence of Santiago Cruz, who lives and works on the Lowry Ranch, located north of Del Rio on U.S. Highway 277.
According to a news release issued this morning by the U.S. Border Patrol’s Del Rio Sector Public Affairs Office, ranch residents first notified the Border Patrol of the break-in. Agents at the scene subsequently called the sheriff’s office.
Items taken from the Cruz residence included a rifle, several bicycles, binoculars and tools.
According to the Border Patrol, agents found a soda can still cool to the touch and tracks believed to be those of the burglars at the scene.
The agents then began following the tracks.
“A search of the area was conducted by the Val Verde County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Border Patrol. The Border Patrol, using thermal imaging equipment, observed three people hiding in the brush on a neighboring ranch,” Jernigan said Wednesday.
Pope said one of the three, a 16-year-old, was captured.
“Property belonging to Santiago Cruz and property later identified as property taken from the Daughtrey ranch house on the Nixon Ranch were found near where the young man was captured,” Pope said.
On Monday, a VVSO investigator interviewed the teenager, who admitted that he and three others had crossed into the U.S. from Mexico and had broken into two ranch houses.
Pope said the teenager identified all of his accomplices, including Arriaga and a second adult named Jose Carlos Gonzalez-Alverez.
During the interview, the teen identified a photograph of the Daughtrey ranch house as one of the places he and the other three had burglarized, Pope said.
On Tuesday, Gonzalez and the other juvenile were picked up by the Border Patrol in the northern part of the county.
According to the Border Patrol news release, a ranch employee reported to the Border Patrol that two persons had approached him looking for food and shelter. Agents who went to the ranch were led to the two, who were asleep in one of the ranch houses.
In a subsequent interview with sheriff’s office investigators, Gonzalez also identified the Daughtrey ranch house as a building he had broken into, and again identified Arriaga and the two teenage boys as his accomplices.
The sheriff and his chief investigator both credited the assistance of the Border Patrol for the swift captures of Gonzalez and two teenage boys believed involved in the burglary ring.
“The Border Patrol was a great help to us on this. They were very enthusiastic in helping us catch these guys. I know personally that one Border Patrol supervisor spent three of his days off going to every ranch in the northern part of the county warning them that these people were out breaking into ranch houses and outbuildings,” Pope said.
“As a result, this Border Patrol supervisor was the one that got the tip that led to the arrest of two of the individuals. Also, we wouldn’t have been able to catch the first guy if it hadn’t been for the Border Patrol’s equipment,” Pope added.
The investigator also reminded county residents that they should call the sheriff’s office when a ranch burglary occurs.
“Frequently people call the Border Patrol, but all the Border Patrol can do is deport them or hold them for illegal entry. The Border Patrol can’t pursue prosecution for the break-ins, and if we’re not called to the crime scene to gather evidence, we can’t prosecute them, either,” said Pope.
with ONE THIRD OF ALL INCARCERATED IN AMERICA BEING ILLEGALS, I don't know why anyone is surprised.
We should not be housing these people.
They should all be deported...while we build my favorite fence! ;-]
BP Ping!
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off this South Texas/Mexico ping list.
> modern-day “wanted poster” <
Not the good ole dead or alive poster
This one read: wanted alive and kicking so we can 1. Let him post $25 dollars bail and promise to come back to court 2. House him in state jail for 6-18 months at a cost of $60 a day that our taxpayers shell out 3. Give him a job at a military installation
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