Doña Ana County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a 19-year-old Vado man after he allegedly broke into a truck to retrieve a folding pocketknife and a BB gun to protect himself from what he told deputies was a “pack of wild dogs.”
Julio Barrera said he was on his way home around 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 30 when he reportedly came in contact with the dogs. He crawled under a fence in the 1000 block of Holguin Road, where he allegedly saw the knife and the BB gun inside a white 1993 Ford pickup.
The owner of the truck later walked outside of his house to find the doors to his truck open and his belongings missing. He also found a marijuana cigarette and a black cell phone that had been left behind, so he called police.
Deputies who responded to the residence on Holguin Road were able to trace the phone back to Barrera, who was then located at his residence in Vado. Barrera confirmed the phone belonged to him, and later admitted to taking the knife and BB gun from the truck on Holguin Road.
Barrera said the pack of dogs disappeared, after which he noticed the BB gun did not work. Barrera told deputies he threw the BB gun somewhere along N.M. 478, but a subsequent search for the gun turned up nothing. The knife was in Barrera’s possession when he was being questioned.
Deputies transported Barrera to the Doña Ana County Detention Center and charged him with auto burglary. He’s being held on a $5,000 surety bond.