Burglar arrested after allegedly stealing El Paso police car, laughing about it
An El Paso man reportedly had a laugh after allegedly stealing a Ford Mustang El Paso police traffic patrol car from a police mechanic shop earlier this month.
Investigators arrested Daniel Antonio Salas, 36, on burglary and auto theft charges after locating the stolen vehicle inside the garage of a house in the North Hills neighborhood, court documents stated.
Salas is accused of driving away with the silver 2012 Ford Mustang during an overnight burglary on the weekend of Sept. 8-11 from the city of El Paso fleet services department at 1059 Lafayette Drive near Bel Air High School, stated complaint affidavits obtained by the El Paso Times.
The sports car is officially described as a "High Performance Marked Police Vehicle" used for traffic enforcement and special events.
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Police mechanic shop burglarized
On Sep. 11, the shop manager discovered that several items were missing or had been moved. Someone broke into the building and stole three sets of car keys and a portable air tank and drove away with a Mustang that had been in the fenced parking lot, affidavits stated.
The Ford Mustang was being serviced for a transmission leak, several flat tires and a defective car battery but was in good enough shape by the time the burglar could drive it off the lot.
An investigation by officers with the Mission Valley Tactical Unit and crime-scene investigators found that the perimeter chain-link fence was cut, a window screen pushed off and tape-covered motion sensors for the building's lights. Metal boxes containing car keys had been broken into, affidavits stated.
Crime-scene investigators processed the scene and allegedly found Salas' fingerprints in several spots, documents stated.
A criminal complaint mentioned that investigators suspect the burglar used the portable air tank and a battery jumper to get the Mustang operational.
Stolen El Paso police car found in home garage
A task force was formed with Mission Valley Tac officers, auto theft detectives, Texas state troopers, and El Paso County sheriff's deputies to find the stolen police car.
Law enforcement officers found Salas along with the three sets of stolen car keys, the stolen air tank and the Mustang inside the garage of his girlfriend's home in the 4300 block of Loma Taurina Drive, documents stated.
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Salas was first taken into custody on a warrant on a charge of possession of methamphetamine earlier this year. His girlfriend and another woman were also detained, the affidavits stated.
The other woman was allegedly in possession of one set of stolen keys. She allegedly told investigators that she heard Salas tell his girlfriend that he had stolen a police car and couldn't get it started again before he asked the woman to hold onto a set of keys, documents stated.
Burglar allegedly laughs about stealing police car
Salas' girlfriend allegedly told investigators that Salas had arrived about 3 a.m. on Sept. 11 "and came up to her room laughing, stating that he just stole a police car," the affidavit stated. The girlfriend told investigators that she didn't believe him and thought he was "just high" from using drugs and she went to sleep.
During a teleconference bond hearing last week, Salas, now sitting in jail, denied that he was laughing.
"This isn't funny. These are three serious charges," Magistrate Judge Linda Estrada told him before reducing the bond amounts.
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On Tuesday, Salas remained in the Downtown El Paso County Jail on charges of burglary of a building, theft of a vehicle and the meth possession charge.
Estrada divided the $10,000 bond in the burglary case to $5,000 in cash or surety bond and $5,000 personal recognizance, which only requires a signature and a promise to appear in court. Jail records show Salas with personal recognizance bonds of $5,000 on the drug case and $20,000 on the vehicle theft.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Burglar allegedly steals El Paso police car, laughs about it
