SOCORRO, N.M. (KRQE) – A New Mexico woman is accused again of taking kids out on crime sprees. This time, police said she drove around town with teens, shooting out windows with slingshots. Thousands of dollars of damage to at least six businesses and damage to two cars in the area is what Socorro Police responded to one day last October.
“She goes, ‘something hit me.’ Then we heard the big pop,” said one employee of a business that was hit by vandals.
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Surveillance video from one of the other businesses hit shows a white sedan involved in breaking a window. Police stopped the Pontiac driven by then 23-year-old Danelda Silva, with six teens in the cars, most of them minors.
“We already got video of this car, you guys shooting at the Conoco window. We have video of it,” said one police officer helping with the traffic stop. Police found pellets in the car and two teens coughed up the weapons they allegedly used them with.
“Who’s got the slingshot? If I find it on you, you’re going with them. If you hand them to me, you’re not,” said one police officer. Two teens pulled out slingshots from under their clothes.
“You both had slingshots,” said the officer.
“Go ahead and put your hands behind your back, Danelda. You’re under arrest,” said an officer. Silva was arrested for contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
This isn’t her first time facing this charge. She’s awaiting trial, accused of encouraging two boys to shoplift meat from a local supermarket in 2019. Those two teens also appear to be involved in this latest incident and appear to live with Silva’s sister.
After the October vandalism spree, Silva paced in the cell at the Socorro Police Department as the teens were picked up by family members.
“You guys got to think before you do. There’s other stuff kids do. They don’t go out bust windows,” said an officer.
For this latest incident, Silva is facing a list of charges including four felony charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and six felony counts of criminal damage to property.
