El Paso teen arrested again as another burglary rash hits Upper Valley, West Side

Daniel Borunda, El Paso Times
·3 min read
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A teenager suspected in serial burglaries was arrested again on Sunday after police saw him running on a street carrying an ax and a black ski mask in the Upper Valley.

Jacob Perez, 17, was arrested after allegedly breaking into a bakery while out of jail on a personal recognizance bond following an arrest in a burglary spree in July, police said.

Two months ago, Perez was arrested on 15 burglary charges in a rash of similar retail break-ins last July in the West Side and the Upper Valley. A 16-year-old boy was charged with allegedly taking part in three of those burglaries.

The teens allegedly swung skateboards to shatter windows and glass doors to enter shops and then break into cash registers to take any money left inside, as well as stealing small valuables and food, police said.

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According to jail records, Perez was booked into jail on Aug. 3 but was released by a magistrate judge two days later on a personal recognizance bond requiring no payment and only a signature with a promise to show up to court. The cases are pending in court.

About 2:50 a.m. Sunday, police officers responding to a burglary found a broken glass door and the cash register damaged at the Arcoiris Bakery at 8018 N. Mesa St. near Doniphan Drive, a news release stated.

Officers with the Westside Tactical Unit later found Perez running on a street carrying an ax and a black ski mask near his home on Alvarez Drive, police said.

Records show Perez resides in the 200 block of Alvarez Drive near Redd Road west of Interstate 10 in the same neighborhood as a rash of burglaries in the Doniphan Drive area.

After an investigation, Perez was arrested on a burglary of building charge in the Arcoiris Bakery case. A police spokesman said that an investigation continues into a similar burglary at Supreme Laundry and Cleaners at 8024 N. Mesa St.

After the latest arrest, Perez is being held on a $50,000 bond at the El Paso County Jail in Downtown. Under Texas law, defendants who are 17 and older are considered adults in the criminal justice system.

Burglary rash hits Upper Valley businesses

Detectives continue investigating a recent plague of late-night burglaries of businesses on Doniphan Drive in the Upper Valley. Perez has not been charged in those cases.

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A half-dozen mom-and-pop restaurants and other businesses have been burglarized along a mile-stretch of Doniphan Drive, a police spokesman said. The burglaries, which occurred Oct. 14 and Oct. 17, were:

Oct. 17

  • Barbacoa Los Primos, 5500 Doniphan Drive

  • Little Bit of Texas nightclub, 5500 Doniphan Drive

  • Family Dollar store, 5300 Doniphan Drive

  • Flautas y Paleteria Tepalca, 5198 Doniphan Drive

Oct. 14

  • Cazares Burritos, 5362 Doniphan Drive

  • Roadrunner Pizza, 5300 Doniphan Drive

Anyone with information on burglaries and other criminal activity may anonymously call Crime Stoppers of El Paso at 915-566-8477 (TIPS) or leave a tip online at crimestoppersofelpaso.org.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Teen arrested again as new burglary rash hits Upper Valley, West Side