Two Española Valley High School students were arrested March 12 after they allegedly broke into the office of head boys’ basketball coach Richard Martinez.
Peter Villareal, 15, and Ramiro Ponce De Leon, 17, were charged with burglary and property damage and released to their parents, a police report states.
Española Police allegedly found a computer in Martinez’s office damaged by an unidentified liquid and powder.
The break-in occurred around 1:30 p.m., just a few hours before Española lost to Artesia in the Class AAAA state semifinals in Albuquerque.
According to police reports, the two students entered Martinez’s office by crawling through ceiling ducts from the boys’ locker room. Police found fresh footprints on top of a bank of lockers, and they matched the prints to both students.
Neither Villareal nor Ponce De Leon plays basketball for Española.