A Hot Springs man was arrested on felony and misdemeanor warrants Sunday night for allegedly breaking into a local couple's home to steal a puppy last month.
Rogello "Roy" Castaneda Ugartechea, 40, who lists a Hillcrest Street address, was taken into custody around 6:30 p.m. in the 200 block of Tom Ellsworth Drive and charged with a felony count of burglary, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, and a misdemeanor count of theft of property, punishable by up to one year in jail.
He remained in custody in lieu of $6,000 bond and was set to appear Monday in Garland County District Court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, on Jan. 9, shortly after 11 p.m., a man and woman reported their residence on Arbor Street was burglarized while they were at work. Someone had forced entry into the residence, damaging the door lock, and stole a 7-week-old black Shih Tzu puppy, valued at $150, from a litter of five puppies.
The victims noted the puppy stolen was one that an "ex-friend," identified as Ugartechea, had picked out to give to his stepdaughter when she returned to her mother's from Christmas break with her father. The female victim said she had argued with Ugartechea earlier on the night of the burglary at her place of employment because Ugartechea didn't want to pay for the puppy.
A neighbor of the victims stated on the night of the burglary she had gone out on her balcony to smoke a cigarette when she saw a known suspect, identified as Ugartechea, walking up to the victims' residence. She said she didn't think anything of it and wasn't aware of the victims "falling out" with Ugartechea.
She said she went back inside and later that night received a call from the victim telling her about the burglary.
The stolen puppy was reportedly recovered at Ugartechea's residence in the possession of his stepdaughter. The girl's mother confirmed Ugartechea had given her the puppy as a gift when she returned from Christmas break.
• A Pearcy man and a reportedly homeless woman were arrested on multiple felony and misdemeanor charges after a traffic stop Friday, including warrants from a burglary last week.
Jeremy Dean Dover, 41, who lists a Logan Gap address, and Brandi Machelle Heath, 24, who lists no permanent address, were both taken into custody shortly before 1 p.m. and charged with felony counts of residential burglary, punishable by up to 20 years, possession of a controlled substance with purpose to deliver, punishable by up to 10 years, possession of drug paraphernalia, punishable by up to six years, and misdemeanor counts of possession of marijuana with purpose to deliver and theft of property, punishable by up to one year in jail.
Both remained in custody in lieu of bonds totaling $13,000 and were set to appear Monday in district court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Officer Jonathan Smith was northbound on Seventh Street when he saw a man and woman on a scooter stopped at the intersection of Seventh and Hobson Avenue and a computer check showed there was no registration for the vehicle and the man, who was driving, was not wearing required eye protection.
He stopped the vehicle at Sixth and Rector and made contact with the driver, identified as Dover, and passenger, identified as Heath, and soon determined Dover had several warrants and was on absconder status with probation and parole with a search waiver on file. Heath was also found to have a warrant.
Smith noted Dover put a folding knife in his pocket and Heath grabbed her purse and held it close to her. In searching Dover, Smith reportedly found a used syringe and two folding knives. He asked if he could search the couple's bags and they reportedly consented.
In searching the purse, Smith allegedly found 9.8 grams of marijuana in a baggie in a wallet, a baggie with 0.2 gram of what later tested positive for meth, and a marijuana pipe. In searching Dover's duffle bag, he allegedly found numerous pieces of tattoo equipment, digital scales with marijuana residue, and three unused syringes.
According to the affidavit for the burglary and theft charges, on Feb. 20, a local man reported that two unknown suspects, male and female, had entered his residence on Lowery Street shortly before 12:30 p.m. that day and stole his television, a laptop computer, tobacco pipe, two tattoo guns, and a bag with money, jewelry and a knife.
The burglary was captured on his surveillance camera inside his apartment which showed a male and female who were identified by detectives as Dover and Heath based on previous encounters. It noted the camera clearly showed Heath's face and several of her tattoos at one point.
The victim told police he didn't know either of the suspects and they had never been to his residence before.
Local on 02/27/2018