Gabrielle Arsiaga/News-Sun
In the last few weeks, Hobbs Police Department Chief August Fons said there has been a dramatic decrease in the number of auto burglaries.
According to police call logs, HPD’s calls for auto burglaries decreased to only one to two incidents per day, whereas before they were averaging two to four calls a day.
Fons attributes the decrease in auto burglaries to proactive policing and the community doing their part.
“The substantial occurrence of recent auto burglaries were geographically mapped by the HPD Criminal Investigations Division who subsequently determined the specific areas of town that the majority of these auto burglaries were occurring,” Fons told the News-Sun.
“This information was passed on to the patrol shifts and they increased their presence in these areas.
“The work of the patrol division along with the help of concerned citizens, who called in suspicious activity, resulted in several auto burglary arrests and recovery of stolen property over the past several weeks. Follow-up investigation by the CID resulted in the filing of additional burglary charges as well. … We have experienced a significant decrease in auto burglaries following these arrests. We would like to thank the citizens for their help, particularly calling in and reporting suspicious behavior.”
Those arrests include: Jovan Mendoza, Tatum Treadaway, Uriel Ponce, Ronald Rosemond, Alisha Bazan, and Ashley Cates.
Mendoza, 18, of Hobbs, was arrested April 12 and charged with burglary of a vehicle, a fourth-degree felony.
Treadaway, 18, of Hobbs, was arrested April 16 and charged with burglary of a vehicle, a fourth-degree felony. He has prior charges for aggravated burglary, second-degree felony; receiving stolen property, two counts of burglary and possession of a controlled substance, all fourth-degree felonies. Those charges were dismissed by the prosecutor.
Bazan, 26, of Hobbs, was arrested March 11 and charged with with unlawful taking of a motor vehicle and possession of a controlled substance, both fourth-degree felonies.
Rosemond, 44, of Hobbs was arrested March 12 and charged with robbery and accessory, both second-degree felonies; resisting evading or obstructing an officer and two counts of failure to appear, both misdemeanors. He has prior charges of two armed robbery, both second-degree felonies; burlgary, battery upon a peace officer, two possession of a firearm by a felon, two possession of a controlled substance, breaking and entering, two receiving or transferring stolen vehicle, all fourth-degree felonies; and DWI, resisting evading or obstructing an officer, possession of drug paraphernalia, all misdemeanors.
Ponce, 18, of Hobbs, was arrested March 12 and charged with burglary of a structure, a fourth-degree felony.
Cates, 27, of Hobbs, was arrested March 12 and charged with embezzlement of a motor vehicle, a fourth-degree felony.
Fons said one step residents can take to help keep a vehicle from being burglarized is to make sure the doors are locked, windows are up, and no valuables are left in plain sight.
