Española City Police officers arrested a Mora man after he was reported to be doing drugs in the McDonald’s parking lot.
Officer Francisco Lovato charged Frank Romero, 48, with two counts of possession of a controlled substance and attempt to commit tampering with evidence on April 27.
Lovato wrote in a criminal complaint that officers were sent at 7:15 a.m. to the McDonald’s on Riverside Drive for “a suspicious vehicle doing narcotics.”
Five officers surrounded the truck and the two occupants, surrounded by five armed police officers, “became super nervous.” Lovato saw Romero trying to stuff something between the seats so he reached into the truck and turned it off, then had Romero step out, Lovato wrote.
“As I questioned Frank, of why he was acting nervous, Officer D. Cruz stated to me to detain Frank in hand restraints, due to finding a suspicious bag sticking out of the driver seat by the seatbelt locking device,” Lovato wrote.
Lovato questioned Romero about the bag, which he denied knowing about, “but continued to be nervous about the situation.”
The substance in the bag passed a field test for cocaine and Lovato searched Romero before putting him in the back of his patrol car. He found a plastic container in his pants pocket, and inside was a bag of white powder.
Romero was released on his own recognizance two days later and ordered to report to pre-trial services by Rio Arriba Magistrate Judge Joseph Madrid. A status conference is set for later this month.
In 2023, Romero pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance: methamphetamine in a case out of Mora County.