A traffic stop for no seatbelts and a stolen or false license plate led to felony charges for a Chimayó man and the recovery of a stolen truck by New Mexico State Police officers.
State Police Officer Derrick Valdez issued a summons to Tomas Ramirez, 46, after getting a search warrant for the truck he initially stopped on Oct. 7.
Valdez charged Ramirez with felon in possession of a firearm, receiving a stolen vehicle and no evidence of registration, improperly displayed registration plates, no insurance and driving with a suspended license. He filed the summons on Oct. 15.
Valdez wrote in a criminal complaint that he was patrolling on El Llano Road when he spotted the single-cab Ford truck with four people inside and only two were wearing seatbelts. When he ran the vehicle’s license plate, it came back to a 1996 Toyota passenger car that expired in 2023.
He pulled over the truck and saw drug paraphernalia inside, associated with smoking drugs, including tooters, torches, a broken glass pipe and a large glass bong. Another officer arrived at the traffic stop to help Valdez identify the truck and found the vehicle’s identification number was held on by tape, which is not normal, Valdez wrote.
The serial number came back to a 1991 red Ford truck, not registered since 2020 with unknown insurance. The serial number on the dash was inaccessible, he wrote.
He asked Ramirez for permission to search the truck and Ramirez deferred to his girlfriend, who told them no, so Valdez had it towed and got a search warrant, he wrote.
When he searched the vehicle, he found a pink handgun in a holster under the bench seat, that would have been accessible to Ramirez or his girlfriend. Then he found Ramirez had a past felony conviction, while the girlfriend did not. The pistol had a scratched serial number, but was not reported as stolen. He also found an empty magazine in the seats and a loaded magazine in the holster.
A week later, he was able to get a VIN inspection done on the truck and an officer was able to find the correct identification number, which came back to a brown 1983 Ford, which had been reported as stolen. The exterior of the truck was painted gray but the interior and bed were brown, Valdez wrote.
Valdez did not write where or when the truck was reported as stolen.
Ramirez was set for a first appearance on Nov. 3 in Española Magistrate Court. He has no open criminal cases.