Española Police officer Eugene Rodella and his brother Gabriel are not suspects in two burglaries at the home of a Chili couple, according to the Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Department.
Instead, investigators and the victims think the incidents were part of a rash of burglaries that has hit Chamita and Chili over the past month and a half.
Neffi and Shirley Montoya had initially thought the Rodellas were behind an Oct. 23 break-in at their home. Deputy Paul Valdez at the time said the break-in looked more like a personal attack than a burglary because the home was ransacked but little was taken. The Rodellas had allegedly attacked the Montoyas’ son, Ryan Barrera, and at least two other associates Oct. 7 at their business, the now-closed Defiant Artist tattoo parlor off Fairview Lane. No arrests have been made or charges filed in connection to that incident.
Shirley Montoya had said she also suspected the Rodellas in a second break-in Nov. 24. The Montoyas’ home was hardly disturbed during the second incident, and only a cordless phone and an electric clock were taken.
Barrera said the family dismissed the suspicion that the Rodellas were behind the break-ins after they saw two suspicious men lurking around the neighborhood the same night a neighbor reported a robbery.
“Since then, we’ve heard of like 20 other people around here that have been burglarized recently,” Barrera said.
Department Det. Adam Archuleta, who is investigating the robberies, put the number at between 10 and 15 robberies, but said the incidents mark a sharp spike from previous months. Archuleta said he suspects the two men the Montoyas saw are behind all or most of those burglaries. Deputies are waiting for State Police to finish analyzing fingerprints found at the Montoyas’ homes and other burglary sites before making an arrest.
“We’ll know pretty soon, but it looks like they’re all going to be connected,” Archuleta said.