Farmington police arrest two juveniles in string of April 21 auto burglaries

Farmington police arrested two juveniles in connection with a string of auto burglaries that took place on the night of April 21.

According to a news release, a large amount of blood was found by investigators on some of the vehicles that had been broken into. Investigators also confirmed that two firearms had been stolen from the vehicles.

The next morning, as the burglaries still were being investigated, police were called to the Animas Valley Mall on a report of two incoherent juvenile subjects. One of the subjects was found to have blood on the front of their pants, while the other was observed to have a handgun in their waistband, according to the release.

An officer arrested the juvenile with the handgun, but the second one fled and hid in a nearby store, the release stated, causing the mall to be put on emergency lockdown. Police determined that the juvenile who had been arrested allegedly was in possession of one of the stolen firearms from the auto burglaries.

The second juvenile was located 20 minutes later at Dad’s Diner, where they were taken into custody. That juvenile allegedly was in possession of the second stolen firearm from the auto burglaries, according to the release.

Further investigation revealed that the two suspects allegedly had been in possession of a stolen vehicle and had crashed it on Sunrise Parkway near the Piñon Hills Golf Course, fleeing on foot before officers arrived.

Anyone with additional information about the case is encouraged to call nonemergency dispatch at 505-334-6622.

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This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: Juveniles taken into custody after police respond to report at mall