The city of Española paid Lujan’s Towing Service $4,148 to store a vehicle as evidence for over a year when it could have just as easily parked the car for free on city-owned property.
And in the end, the cases in which the car was a piece of evidence ended up being dismissed anyway.
Jesse Rohrs’ Jaguar S-Type was towed Aug. 7, 2007, to Lujan’s lot at South McCurdy Road and was not released to him until the city paid the bill in September 2008.
Public Safety Chief Julian Gonzales said the vehicle could have been towed to Prince Charter Ranch, a city-owned property where the department keeps some of its evidence free of charge.
“There were other opportunities besides Lujan’s, but no one seized on them,” he said.
“Due to some oversight and mismanagement of the case, the car remained in storage until the case was dismissed.”
Gonzales said a lot of people were not paying attention but he refused to name anyone by name.
Rohrs originally had been pulled over for not wearing a seat belt Aug. 7, but he refused to allow his car to be inventoried after Police officer Vince Crespin spotted a gun in plain view inside, a police report states. A search warrant was filed and the car was impounded.
That same night, Rohrs and Andres Romero were suspected of breaking into the lot where the car was being kept and removing unknown items from the car. Romero was arrested that night, but Rohrs escaped and remained free until he was arrested Nov. 28, 2007, in connection with a domestic violence incident in Española, court documents state.
“We know there were drugs in that car,” Española Police Sgt. Christian Lopez said.
The problem was no one apparently ever found the drugs, and the alleged burglary occurred before police could inspect the inside of the car.
Romero and Rohrs were indicted by a Rio Arriba County grand jury Dec. 20, 2007, on charges of breaking and entering and other crimes related to the break-in.
The cases against both men were eventually dismissed Aug. 25 of this year, according to an online court records database. Why the case was dismissed is a matter of dispute between the police and the District Attorney’s office.
Nevertheless, two days after the dismissal, Rohrs’ attorney Marc Edwards asked the city to pay the towing fees so his client could get back his car.
“Mr. Rohrs is not liable for the storage fees while his vehicle is stored as evidence,” Edwards stated in an Aug. 27 letter to Interim City Manager Veronica Albin.
Edwards said when he contacted Lujan’s towing he was told the car would not be released until the fees accrued were paid, so he sent the letter to Albin explaining the situation.
These fees had climbed to $4,148 in the intervening year. According to city documents Lujan’s towing was paid Sept. 22. Edwards said Rohrs picked up the Vehicle Oct. 15.
“Once it became evidence Española Police Department didn’t take it and put it on their property,” Edwards said. “Once it becomes evidence they shouldn’t leave it at a private company.”
Rohrs paid the $55 towing fee, Edwards said. But according to the invoice from Lujan’s Towing, the city had to pay for storage for the vehicle which came out to $3,810 plus an additional $50 fee for other services and $301.45 for taxes, according to the invoice.
Gonzales said he didn’t realize the car was at Lujan’s Towing until a few days before the bill was paid.
“When I found out about it, we took action,” he said.
Ultimately, the District Attorney determines when evidence is released, Assistant District Attorney Timothy Hasson said, meaning that in this case he would not authorize the release of the car until photographs of it were taken. He received the photos of the car Aug. 20 and sent a letter authorizing the release of the vehicle. The judge sent a similar letter the next day.