The two stolen guns recovered by State Police in a dramatic operation Jan. 14 that involved officers shooting at a fleeing vehicle were among 37 weapons stolen from an Akal Security office in Española, according to Española Police and dispatch logs.
An entire safe full of 9 mm Beretta pistols, valued at approximately $12,000, was stolen Dec. 22 from Akal’s office on State Road 30 by suspects who entered through a bathroom window, according to a police report. Besides the two guns State Police had taken into evidence Jan. 14, none of the other stolen guns have been recovered, Española Police Sgt. Christian Lopez said Monday.
Akal Security warehouse manager Jose Baca arrived at work the morning of Dec. 22 and upon entering the bathroom found the window shattered, the report states. Baca immediately checked the room containing the safes and found one missing. Police found a wrought iron window screen had been removed from the window and vehicle tire tracks led up to the window, according to the report.
Had the suspect entered from any other room in the warehouse, they would have activated a motion sensor in accessing the weapons, the report notes. The suspect is likely to be “familiar with the layout of the building,” Española Police officer Gabe Gonzales wrote in his report.
Lopez said other than the likelihood they were familiar with the building’s contents, a profile of the suspects has not been developed. The fact they were able to open the safe also doesn’t narrow down the possible suspects, Lopez said.
“The thing about it is you can pretty much go online or call a safe company and get information as to how to open these kind of safes,” Lopez said, adding that the suspects also could have used an acetylene torch to break into it.
Lopez said he believes most of the remaining guns are probably still in the state, if not in the Española Valley.
“We’ve been working on that non-stop,” Lopez said of the investigation.
Although Baca is not a person of interest in the burglary, according to Lopez, Baca’s Española residence was raided in 2006 by Region III Narcotics Task Force agents who had been investigating Baca for allegedly trafficking cocaine. Seven grams of cocaine and crack cocaine, a digital scale and baggies for packaging were seized from the house, and in the hour that the agents were there, seven “customers” came by the house apparently intending to buy from Baca, according to court documents.
Baca eventually pleaded no contest to trafficking cocaine and a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia was dismissed, according to an online court records database.
Lopez said Baca’s rap sheet doesn’t throw suspicion on him.
“Just because he trafficked cocaine in 2006 doesn’t make him a burglar,” Lopez said. “We can’t prejudice him because he has a rap sheet.”
Lopez said Baca’s story at the time appeared to be true, and Akal administrators vouched for his reputation. Baca is still employed with Akal, Purchasing Manager Amrit Khalsa said Tuesday, adding that he didn’t know anything about the trafficking conviction. Khalsa said from what he knows of the investigation, there is no reason to suspect the burglars had ties to the company.
“It was a smash and grab,” Khalsa said. “That’s not some kind of planned organized thing.”
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The two guns in question were found on Vicente Griego, 28. Griego was arrested Jan. 14 by State Police who had been given a tip that Griego was selling stolen guns out his truck.
Lopez disagreed with Khalsa’s assessment that the earlier theft was not organized.
“We’re talking to a lot of the employees because there are ties with (Griego),” Lopez said. “We are tying in some of the suspects to some of the employees, either they’re related to them directly, or they’re dating them, they’re related somehow.”
The day he was arrested Griego allegedly tried to run over State Police criminal agent Joey Gallegos and pulled Gallegos’ hand inside his vehicle after he and other agents pursued Griego up a snow-covered La Madera road, according to court documents. Agent Larry Aguirre shot out one of Griego’s car tires to disable the vehicle; an agent with the State Police investigations bureau is conducting an investigation of the incident, which is standard when an officer shoots his weapon, Sgt. Tim Johnson said.
According to court documents, Griego thanked officers for shooting the car and not him.
Griego, who was released from Rio Arriba County Jail Jan. 21 after posting $1,000 (10 percent of $10,000), could not be reached for comment.
Although dispatch logs note that Lopez advised 911 dispatchers after the Akal break-in to alert surrounding agencies about the stolen guns, the State Police’s Españoola office apparently never got the message. State Police first learned of the theft when the two weapons recovered Jan. 14 returned a match through the National Crime Information Center with the Dec. 22 crime, State Police Capt. Daniel Lovato said.
“I hope the State Police and local police are successful and we get these guns off the street before someone seriously gets hurt,” Khalsa said, adding that security has been increased at the warehouse.