Search nets stolen property and pot plants

by Eric Mullens
WALSENBURG — Five Walsenburg residents were arrested last Friday after city and county lawmen executed search warrants seeking stolen property at six locations in the city.
Huerfano County Sheriff Bruce Newman said,”we got information that turned out to be good and we got six search warrants for items stolen in recent burglaries in the city and county.”
The warrants were served at residences in the 400 block of Pennsylvania, the 400 block of Kansas, the 500 block of E. Fifth, the 200 block of E. Sixth and two in the 700 block of Albert.
Tina York, 47, Aubrey Jennings, 24, Angelo Quintero, 25, Andrew Quintero, 29 and Ashley Webb, 25 were arrested. Andrew Quintero and Webb were charged with theft by receiving and Angelo Quintero and Jennings were charged with illegal cultivation of marijuana. York was arrested on a charge of illegal possession of a Schedule II controlled substance.
All of the suspects were released on bond the same day they were arrested, Friday, April 20.
Newman said electronic items, video games and game stations were recovered as well as a number of video tapes believed to have been stolen during one of the recent burglaries at Premiere Video in Walsenburg.
Nearly a dozen lawmen from the Walsenburg Police Department and the Huerfano County Sheriff’s Office took part in the execution of the search warrants which began at about 10 am Friday.
Newman said the warrants were for property stolen in recent city burglaries and a pair of county burglaries. He said a weekend/summer home and a ranch home located in the county between Walsenburg and Gardner had been the target of thieves.
During the warrant service at the Albert addresses, officers had to stop the search when a number of marijuana plants were found at those locations. Two additional warrants were obtained and the search continued with authorities seizing approximately 20 plants. Newman said the residents of those homes do have medical marijuana licenses, but they were in possession of excess amounts of the three mature and three growth-stage pot plants allowed by state law.
Teams of lawmen executed the warrants two at a time at the various locations and all of the arrests were made without resistance.
Newman said the combined city and county operation was a success and additional arrests may be made in the near future.