Authorities: Santa Fe guy stole about $250K in jewelry, offered items to vacationers

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Authorities say a homeless gentleman on a court-ordered GPS observe stole hundreds of countless numbers of dollars in jewelry from Santa Fe corporations around the previous various months to feed a purported fentanyl routine.

Edgar Guzman, who lived beneath a bridge in close proximity to downtown Santa Fe, informed police he marketed the jewelry – at least 1 piece really worth up to $35,000 – to visitors for in between $20 and $100 every single.

Authorities say corporations are now “trying to compete with their very own product” due to the 26-year-previous reselling the things close to city at a “considerably decrease charge.”

“The internet impact of these crimes can be devastating to the house owners of these businesses and the city’s economic climate,” a Santa Fe Police Office detective wrote in courtroom data.

Santa Fe Police Capt. Aaron Ortiz stated in the two largest hauls – two burglaries at the Manitou Galleries – Guzman stole hundreds of jewellery parts well worth $250,000. He claimed none of the jewelry has been recovered.

“We’re next up with pawn outlets to try out and recover some,” Ortiz reported, calling Guzman’s arrest a “step in the right direction” of curbing burglaries close to the money town.

Police used the GPS from Guzman’s ankle keep an eye on to spot him at the scene of multiple burglaries and attempted split-ins.

He is now jailed at the Santa Fe County Grownup Detention Centre, charged with two counts each individual of getting stolen assets in excess of $20,000, larceny around $20,000, four counts of non-household theft and lesser fees. It is unclear if he has an lawyer.

Courtroom information clearly show Guzman picked up his to start with critical charges in 2019 and 2020, when he allegedly threatened juveniles with a knife and, in a individual case, threatened a guy with a knife soon after shoplifting. Each cases ended up dismissed because of to prosecutors not meeting deadlines or submitting discovery.

In January, he was sentenced to group assistance and a calendar year of probation in a November 2021 scenario in which he was caught with fentanyl tablets. At the time, Guzman experienced already been placed on an ankle watch by the courtroom right after police say they caught him with $230,000 in jewellery, money and coins subsequent back-to-back burglaries from Momeni’s Gallery at 222 Aged Santa Fe Path.

In all, authorities say Guzman was arrested a few situations above the earlier 4 months for crimes similar to burglary and home theft.

“I believe that Mr. Guzman is a danger to the non-public business enterprise house owners of the City of Santa Fe,” the detective on the circumstance wrote in a statement of probable trigger filed in Santa Fe Justice of the peace Court.

In the most significant heists, on Feb. 15 and March 4, Guzman allegedly broke into the exact Manitou Galleries spot on Palace Avenue, a couple of blocks from the Santa Fe Plaza, according to law enforcement.

Each burglaries occurred just prior to 5 a.m. and took minutes as Guzman allegedly pried his way into the making and filled a backpack with hundreds of jewellery pieces, like an 18-karat white gold and sapphire diamond ring worthy of $35,000.

Guzman was arrested April 10 just after he attempted to drill as a result of the lock of a company and law enforcement explained he experienced a backpack matching the one particular seen in surveillance footage from the gallery. Guzman, who experienced been in and out of jail amongst the gallery burglaries, explained to the arresting officers he was attempting to get revenue for a fentanyl routine.

Courtroom information exhibit a detective achieved with Guzman, who explained he experienced been homeless for a year and living underneath a bridge a quarter-mile from the gallery. He mentioned there was “no chance” of returning the jewelry as he had sold it on the streets to tourists.

Police claimed he instructed them he burglarized the gallery 2 times “because it was quick.”

Guzman’s ankle observe positioned him at the scene of the Feb. 15 gallery theft and an additional two burglaries, in which he stole a protected and hard cash registers.

In one particular of individuals situations, on Feb. 24, an officer followed bicycle tracks in the fresh snow from the enterprise by means of Santa Fe to Guzman’s tent in close proximity to the bridge at Sandoval and DeVargas street.

Guzman’s GPS area for the second gallery burglary could not be verified due to the fact his ankle monitor had been taken out on March 1 due to the prior situation becoming dismissed to be “refiled afterwards,” according to court records.