Hobbs Police Department officers arrested a Hobbs man after he allegedly stole approximately $3,750 worth of microwave ovens from an apartment complex located at the 3500 block of North Fowler.
Huriel Oceguera-Salcido, 33, was arrested on two warrants for burglary of a structure and receiving or transferring stolen vehicles, both fourth-degree felonies.
On Monday, HPD officers responded to the 3500 block of North Fowler in reference to a burglary. When officers arrived, they made contact with the reporting party who is an employee with Hudson Construction. Hudson Construction is currently building an addition to the existing apartment complex.
The employee of Hudson Construction told police he left the construction site at 6 p.m. on Sunday and remembered locking the door to one of the apartments before leaving. According to the employee, that particular apartment was being used as an office/warehouse for the time being and inside of the northeast bedroom were 23 Samsung microwave ovens being stored pending installation.
On Monday, the employee noticed the door was locked as he left it the day prior but noticed the northeast bedroom window was ajar and the microwave ovens were missing.
The employee stated to police he believed the thieves used a red dolly to remove the microwaves from the apartment since a dolly was inside of the apartment but was found between a roll off trash container and a wooden fence which is located to the east of the complex. Next to the dolly, it was also noticed that there were several wooden fence panels that had been removed by the thief as well.
Detectives arrived on scene and noticed several tennis shoe footprints on the laminated floor, which weren’t consistent with work boots that the construction workers were known to wear.
According to the report, two different patterns of tennis shoes were noticed indicating two persons/subjects were in the area.
HPD officers on Monday responded to a separate call on the 1900 block of East Conquistador in reference to a stolen vehicle. When officers arrived at the home, they learned from the victim that they had spotted their recently stolen vehicle, a Chevy Silverado, backed into a parking space next to a white RV.
According to the report, the driver’s side door was open and no one was in the vehicle, indicating the driver had just gotten out of the vehicle.
Officers knocked on the RV and a man by the name of Huriel Oceguera Salcido came to the door, appeared startled and quickly closed the RV door making his way outside.
HPD officers ran a records check on Salcido who was found to have outstanding warrants. Salcido was also found to be wearing a pair of black and red shoes with a pattern consistent to those that were found inside of the apartment, on the road and by the wooden fence where the microwave ovens were taken from, according to police.
Salcido spoke with detectives and told them the vehicle did not belong to him and denied stealing it. He said he was the only person who resided in the RV and he did not have the keys to the truck nor were they inside. He also denied officers consent to search the RV.
While detectives were processing the stolen vehicle, they saw a new and packaged window that was leaning against the exterior portion of the RV, four feet from the
RV’s front door with b“Hudson Sorrento Glass” labeled on the window.
Detectives contacted the employee of Hudson Construction and told him what officers recovered, to which two employees of Hudson Construction responded to the scene and identified the window as property of Hudson Construction.
“After processing the stolen vehicle, multiple power tools were located inside with the initials (BM), which were identified by (one of the employees of Hudson Construction) to be his,” the report states. “Near the stolen vehicle, multiple wooden panels were observed laying on the floor close to the truck, consistent by shape, size, and color as the ones that were damaged/removed at the (apartment complex).”
Based on the items found at the scene of the stolen vehicle, a warrant was obtained for the RV which revealed 10 out of the 15 stolen microwave ovens to be present.
Also inside of the RV a cell phone was located on top of the table and several messages were read by detectives asking “how much” and “I need a welder,” indicating Salcido is or has been posting/advertising items for sale along with taking orders.
Salcido was released on an unsecured bond appearance of $5,000 on Wednesday. He is scheduled for a preliminary examination on Nov. 17 before Hobbs Magistrate Willie Henry.
