Police on bikes arrest three in Santa Fe burglary
By Andy Stiny / Journal Staff Writer; Albuquerque Journal, Friday, March 21, 2014 at 5:38 pm
A quick-thinking burglary victim who was on the phone, screamed when she saw three men go by her window who she suspected had just broken into her home on Thursday afternoon on Camino Cerrito near the Santa Fe Plaza.
The 62-year-old woman told them to leave, called police and provided a suspect description and license plate number of their green Ford Expedition, Santa Fe said in a news release.
Public Safety Aid Franchesca Perdue saw the vehicle 15 minutes later and alerted two officers of the police department’s Bicycle Unit who were nearby.
Officers Josh Ramirez and Elizabeth Brewer intercepted the vehicle near the intersection of Cathedral Place and Palace Avenue and Brewer maneuvered her bicycle in front of suspect’s car to stop it.
Other officers arrived and searched the vehicle and interviewed and the suspects. “The victim was brought to the scene and able to confirm at least two of the three men were illegally inside her home,” police said. A search of the car turned up burglary tools and drug paraphernalia, police said.
According to police, those arrested were: Fernando Fonsesca, 31 (driver), charged with burglary, three counts of possession of burglary tools, possession of drug paraphernalia and conspiracy; Michael Martinez, 19, charged with burglary; and Armando Gutierrez, 28, charged with a probation violation.
Nothing was taken from the home and the suspects gained entry through an unlocked back door, police believe.