A Mountainair man is accused of burglarizing the Salinas Pueblo Monument Headquarters Visitor Center three times on three different days in October.
According to a criminal complaint, 28-year-old Isaac Padilla Jr. of Mountainair is suspected in a string of burglaries in early October around the property at 105 S. Ripley Ave. in Mountainair where the Salinas Pueblo National Monument Headquarters Visitor’s Center is located. According to police, Padilla was identified via surveillance footage entering the property on three consecutive days from Oct. 2 through Oct. 4 and removing items from at least five storage sheds. During the Oct. 2 burglary, two suspects were observed taking items from the sheds.
Padilla is accused of taking items including computer monitors, laptops, landscaping equipment and a generator from buildings on the property. According to the complaints, some of the items taken from the sheds were left behind on the property.
The Independent reached out to Padilla’s attorney for comment on the Torrance County charges but did not hear back as of press time.
According to a criminal complaint, members of a United States Marshals Service, along with Torrance County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) deputies and detectives began a collaborative effort Oct. 9 in Mountainair to take wanted fugitives into custody. According to the complaint, because of the number of felony charges Padilla picked up in a week, the U.S. Marshals conducted surveillance on a known address for Padilla.
The complaint says that Padilla ran from the home in question on foot before TCSO deputies shot him with a rubber round and took him into custody. According to the complaint, when TCSO detectives searched Padilla they found several blue fentanyl pills, heroin, a syringe and burnt foil.
Padilla is charged with seven counts of nonresidential burglary, two counts of larceny, and one count each of conspiracy to commit nonresidential burglary, attempted larceny, receiving stolen property, tampering with evidence, burglary of a vehicle, criminal damage to property, resisting, evading or obstructing an officer, possession of fentanyl, possession of heroin, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
According to court documents, Padilla was denied release since there is already an arrest warrant for him in Bernalillo County for failing to appear in court for a case where he’s accused of fleeing from officers, receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle and damage to property.