Police make arrest in two daytime burglaries

Los Lunas

A Los Lunas man was arrested by police on charges that he broke into two homes Saturday afternoon.

Los Lunas Police Detective Lt. Charles Nuanes said Bernie Atencio, 28, has been charged with one count of breaking and entering and one count of criminal trespass.

Police were dispatched to a house on Teles Street in the Luna Hills neighborhood at 3 p.m. after the homeowner reported she’d seen a man take the screen off a back window. Nuanes said when the man noticed the homeowner had seen him, he fled the area on foot.

While searching the area for the suspect, Lt. Max Blea, Officer Michael Sandoval and Sergeant Joseph Werner were dispatched to another burglary call in the area.

Another unidentified homeowner on Genson Drive called police reporting that she found an unknown man in her house.

“As soon as the homeowner confronted the male subject, he fled out of the house,” Nuanes said.

The Los Lunas police officers who reported the two separate calls became suspicious when both residents gave them similar descriptions of the suspect, Nuanes said.

As the officer were searching the neighborhood, Sandoval saw a man, who was later identified as Atencio, matching the description. After the officer questioned him, Sandoval took Atencio back to both houses where both homeowners identified him as the man they’d saw.

Atencio was then taken into custody and charged.