A 31-year-old Chimayó man was charged with child abuse, possession of a controlled substance and felon in possession of a firearm after he and a 17-year-old girl were reportedly sleeping in his car, March 3, in the Del Norte Credit Union parking lot.
Española City Police Officer Anthony Martinez wrote in a criminal complaint for Jacob Atencio’s arrest that someone reported two people sleeping in a red Honda accord and they wanted a welfare check on them. When Atencio approached the car, he saw a pink container with white residue and a plastic bag with a clear rock in it, consistent with cocaine or methamphetamine, he wrote.
Martinez wrote that he went back to his car and got “stop sticks,” which puncture tires, and put them in front of the wheels in case Atencio tried to flee once he woke up. Two other officers joined Martinez and he had Atencio get out of the car and handcuffed him. Then, he saw in the driver’s side door, a pistol and told the other officers about it.
Atencio allegedly said “that’s not mine” once Martinez said he saw it, the officer’s report said.
The passenger was identified as a 17-year-old girl who appeared to be high. Atencio identified her as his girlfriend. She was picked up by her mother, Martinez wrote.
Martinez then had dispatchers run Atencio’s information and they found a 2015 felony conviction, where he received a suspended prison sentence. Martinez then arrested him for the gun, the drugs and for alleged child abuse, the report said.
Although Rio Arriba Magistrate Judge Joseph Madrid arraigned Atencio the following day, he did not release him. It took another day for Magistrate Judge Alexandra Naranjo to order Atencio released on his own recognizance. A status conference is set for March 26.
In a 2016 global plea deal, Atencio pleaded guilty to rape and aggravated stalking, receiving a sentence of supervised probation, resolving two separate cases, according to court records.
According to a statement of probable cause in the rape case, Atencio accused his girlfriend at the time, of cheating and on Aug. 26, 2016, tried to break her phone, then forced her onto a bed and raped her, then put his knees on her stomach, put his hands around her neck and shoved two fingers down her throat until she blacked out.