Burglars smash into Valencia Co. homes

LOS CHAVEZ, N.M. (KRQE) - Deputies and neighbors in Valencia County try to tackle a rash of home break-ins in the small community of Los Chavez.

Valencia County Sheriff Rene Rivera said they have had seven break-ins in Valencia County in the last 12 days, a big jump from the month before. Most of those break-ins have been in Los Chavez.

Rivera said the burglars seem to be getting in by kicking in doors and smashing windows and aren't discriminating.

"They see a target, and they hit it," Rivera said.

Several of the burglaries were just off State Road 314 where Arleigh Ortega was one of the victims.

"I had just been at the house and I got a call from a neighbor that the cops were looking for my wife," Ortega told KRQE News 13. "Some of the W-2's were in the stolen goods."

Those tax documents would contain identifying information about the Ortegas, their incomes and where they work.

Turns out burglars had just hit his house and were spotted on the ditch bank carrying the stolen loot. Sheriff Rivera says

"Someone from public noticed this individual on the ditch bank with items in hand, which he believed might have been stolen," Rivera said.

Deputies responded quickly and caught the man identified as Louis Córdova. A second man believed to be Córdova's accomplice fled but was caught the next day after the same neighbor spotted him and recognized him from the night before.

The neighbor held Jonathon Marquez at gunpoint until deputies arrived, Rivera said.

Even with the arrests the burglaries continued. Rivera said he believes several groups are at work in the community between Los Lunas and Belen and also in El Cerro Mission east of Los Lunas where they have seen a rash of break-ins.

Ortega said his neighbor got hit the day after he did.

"Just a couple houses down on the main road they stole his shorts, his pants, socks all the meat out of his freezer, the TV, everything," Ortega said. "They wiped him out clean."

The sheriff said he assigned deputies to patrol more in the area, but they can't do it alone. He is encouraging people to report any suspicious activity.

"We need people to come in and help us a little more," Rivera said. "You never know. It may be your house that's next."