Police say suspects in alleged Home Depot robbery, chase may be tied to other thefts

Sep. 14—A man accused of robbing a Home Depot at gunpoint Monday and leading Santa Fe police on two high-speed pursuits along city streets had a warrant out for his arrest in a 6-year-old case stemming from a string of residential burglaries.

Police said Jesus Gonzalez, 24, also could face charges in recent thefts throughout the city.

Gonzalez is accused of shoplifting a generator from Home Depot with another man early Monday and then fleeing from police in an SUV. He was arrested downtown late Monday afternoon following a second chase in which the SUV collided with an officer's cruiser, police said. The pursuit ended at Guadalupe and West De Vargas streets, prompting a brief shelter-in-place advisory.

A criminal complaint filed Tuesday in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court says Gonzalez is charged with armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery and aggravated fleeing from a law enforcement officer.

Santa Fe County jail records show he also is held on counts of failure to pay fines, failure to appear in court, failure to comply, receiving or transferring stolen vehicles and tampering with evidence.

His first appearance in Magistrate Court is scheduled at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Chrystyne Sanchez of Bernalillo, suspected of driving the SUV during the second police chase Monday, also was arrested. She is charged with aggravated battery on a peace officer, aggravated fleeing from a law enforcement officer and tampering with evidence, Santa Fe police said in a news release Tuesday.

Jail records show Gonzalez and Sanchez were booked late Monday evening.

Police believe a second man was involved in the Home Depot robbery and are working to identify him, Deputy Chief Matthew Champlin said. They have identified a "person of interest," he added, but were still trying to determine whether the person was a perpetrator.

Just after 8:30 a.m. Monday, a Santa Fe police detective received a call from a Home Depot employee about a suspicious vehicle in the Richards Avenue store's parking lot, the news release said.

As he was surveilling the lot, the employee told police, he saw a dark gray Toyota C-HR with two men inside. The complaint provides the SUV's license plate number and states the detective was familiar with the vehicle because it was suspected of being involved in several recent thefts.

Gonzalez could be charged in some of those crimes, police said in the release.

While Champlin said Gonzalez is suspected in at least four other robbery cases in which charges have been filed, no charging documents in the incidents appeared in online court records.

"There's a lot to it," Champlin said. "They're still working on tying everything together."

According to the complaint filed Tuesday, Gonzalez and another man entered Home Depot and walked to the generator aisle, and then went back to the front of the store for a shopping cart. They broke the security device protecting the generators, the complaint says, and placed a Dewalt 800-watt gas-powered generator, valued at $1,299, into the cart.

As they walked by the front of the store, the driver of the SUV, later identified as Gonzalez, pulled out a handgun, which deterred an "asset protection" worker from trying to prevent the robbery, the complaint says.

Champlin confirmed in an email Gonzalez was driving the vehicle during the Home Depot incident and ensuing chase.

As the pair drove off with the generator, the Home Depot employee began to follow the Toyota and relayed its location and direction of travel to police, according to the complaint.

The first patrol vehicle to reach the Toyota attempted a traffic stop near Rodeo Road and Yucca Street, the complaint says. However, Gonzalez and the other man fled, prompting a pursuit. Due to the Toyota's high speed and Gonzalez's "erratic driving," police terminated the chase out of concern for public safety, the complaint says.

Around 3:15 p.m. Monday, a police lieutenant saw the gray Toyota C-HR at a Murphy gas station on Cerrillos Road, according to a criminal complaint filed against Sanchez.

Officers tailed the SUV until it entered the Burger King parking lot at the intersection of Llano Street and St. Michael's Drive, Sanchez's complaint says. As one of the officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop, Sanchez put the Toyota in reverse and rammed into his patrol unit. She then drove past vehicles in the Burger King drive-thru line and fled, initiating the second high-speed chase of the day, the complaint says.

Sanchez, 31, sped through several red lights, drove through residential areas and eventually parked the SUV behind Whole Hog Café on Guadalupe Street.

Sanchez and Gonzalez were arrested after a foot pursuit.

The news release said an officer struck Gonzalez with a stun gun because he resisted arrest.

Sanchez told officers Gonzalez had advised her to flee from the Burger King, and she did so because he was holding a firearm and she was scared he would hurt her, according to her criminal complaint.

She admitted to damaging a patrol car and running from officers, the complaint says.

Court records show Gonzalez was charged in 2016 with nine counts tied to burglaries, but the case has not been resolved.

He has been accused of failing to show up at multiple court hearings and failing to pay fines and fees associated with the case, according to court records. Five bench warrants have been issued for his arrest since the charges were filed, including an open warrant filed in October 2021 in state District Court.