After a Chimayó man allegedly pried open a Walmart cash register and stole $1,820, before raising a chisel at an employee who tried to stop him, prosecutors are asking that he be held without bail pending trial as a danger to the community.
Española Police Officer Dustin Chavez arrested Sebastian Abeyta on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, larceny over $500, criminal damage to property under $1,000 and resisting an officer on May 6.
Prosecutor Kent Wahlquist filed the motion May 8 to have Abeyta held without bail pending trial, writing that he “poses a significant danger of physical harm” to others, although Chavez didn’t accuse him of hurting anyone.
He wrote that Abeyta is currently on probation in five other District Court cases.
“The Defendant has a long and consistent history of committing crimes, even while on Court supervision,” Wahlquist wrote.
Chavez wrote in a statement of probable cause for Abeyta’s arrest that at 9:12 p.m., he was patrolling the Walmart parking lot when several employees erroneously said a man had just “robbed” them, when they were in fact accusing Abeyta of having stolen money from an unattended cash register.
They pointed to a blue truck where he saw Abeyta “wresting with a civilian” who had Abeyta against the hood of the vehicle and was telling him to stop resisting, as he grabbed Abeyta’s wrists and put them behind his back, he wrote.
Chavez ran over, handcuffed Abeyta and during a pat-search, a yellow chisel fell out of his pocket. In his hoodie pocket, there was a bunch of cash, he wrote.
Store manager Margarita Andujo told Chavez she was walking near the electronics area when she saw a man walking near a cash register, pull out a chisel and pry open the cash drawer. She yelled for him to close the drawer, “leaned in attempting to stop Mr. Abeyta from taking any money” but he grabbed a fistful of dollars and ran north inside the store as employees chased him, Chavez wrote.
“In the process, Mr. Abeyta turned and changed location and ran into another employee named Gilbert Lucio, who happened to be in the area of the automotive section,” Chavez wrote. “Mr. Abeyta and Mr. Lucio were face to face, when Mr. Abeyta stated ‘its (sic) not yours’ as Mr. Lucio replied back ‘its (sic) not yours either.’”
Abeyta then allegedly raised his hand with the chisel in it, “threatening” Lucio with it, Chavez wrote.
“Mr. Lucio, in fear of his life backed away as Mr. Abeyta reached in his pocket and threw several one hundred dollar bills on the ground and ran out the north front entrance where he was appended (sic),” Chavez wrote.
Chavez wrote that Abeyta allegedly took $1,820 in cash.
A combined preliminary and dangerousness hearing in Abeyta’s case is set for Thursday (5/21).