By C1 Staff
SANTA FE, NM – Deputies recovered the handgun stolen from the car of a New Mexico Corrections Department employee earlier this month and arrested three in connection to the theft.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that Antonio Chavez, Ana Lara and Edward Lucio were the three arrested in connection to the theft. All faces charges of stolen property. A fourth person is currently being sought.
Chavez reportedly asked a friend to drive him out to Eldorado on September 8 so he could “retrieve some personal items from a friend’s house.”
Chavez then stole items from three cars, including a correction officer’s duty bag containing a .40 caliber handgun, a ballistics vest, a law enforcement badge, a TASER, a duty belt, baton, and one set of handcuffs.
The officer says her vehicle was locked at the time, but Chavez claimed to only target unlocked vehicles. A deputy confirmed that there were “no signs of forced entry” into the officer’s vehicle.
The gun and badge were sold for $125; the gun was recovered by deputies after an anonymous caller tipped them off that it would be in a garbage can at a nearby park. The ballistics vest has also been recovered, but the badge and other items are still missing.