In the days following a heist from a New Mexico club, criminals attempted to pawn their loot at a shop run by the former manager of the course from which the clubs were stolen. GPS also tracked an iPad taken from the club to the apartment of the suspects, who denied knowing anything about the stolen items.
A trio of golf club thieves were foiled earlier this month, police say, when they tried to sell a set of clubs to a pawn shop run by the former manager of the city-owned golf course from which they are accused of stealing them just days before, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.
Santa Fe police issued arrest warrants for Jason Weaver, 36, Joey Granillo, 21, and Gilberto Granillo, 20, on felony charges of receiving stolen property and conspiracy, according to The New Mexican report.
Weaver is a former employee of the Santa Fe Parks Division, police say, and Joey Granillo is a former employee of the city’s Marty Sanchez Links de Santa Fe Golf Course, The New Mexican reported.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit filed in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court, the pro shop at the golf course was burglarized March 8 and again on March 9. The restaurant at the course also was burglarized the second night, the affidavit said.
Police officers responding to a report of the March 9 break-in at the pro shop, after an employee was notified of a security alarm, found a broken window and saw a flashlight and candy bars lying on the floor, The New Mexican reported. The suspects had turned the power off at the shop, the affidavit said, and left a small safe and golf clubs strewn outside.
A set of golf clubs valued at $1,300 and nine clubs valued at $150 each were taken from the pro shop, according to the affidavit, while cash and an iPad were missing from the Links Bar & Grill, The New Mexican reported.
Four days later, the affidavit said, Weaver and Gilberto Granillo showed up at Valley Pawn in Albuquerque, according to The New Mexican report. Weaver was wearing a bright yellow city of Santa Fe work shirt, and Granillo was wearing a Links de Santa Fe jacket issued to city workers at the course.
Pawn shop manager Steve Moreno—who had managed the Marty Sanchez course for eight years—told officers he grew suspicious when the two men tried to sell him golf clubs still in their original wrapping, with Marty Sanchez Links de Santa price tags, The New Mexican reported.
“I’m like, ‘What are you guys doing?’” Moreno told The New Mexican, remarking on the men’s brazen decision to show up at his shop. “It was just bad juju for them.”
Moreno already had scanned Weaver’s identification when he began questioning the men about where they got the clubs, he said. He phoned the golf course when the pair ran from the store, leaving the golf clubs behind, The New Mexican reported. The episode was caught on the pawn shop’s surveillance cameras, Moreno said.
On March 14, the iPad stolen from the Links Bar & Grill was tracked by GPS to an apartment in Santa Fe where the three suspects were living, according to the arrest warrant affidavit. Police found other stolen golf clubs—also with wrapping and Marty Sanchez price tags—in the front seat of a vehicle registered to Joey Granillo that was parked in front of the apartment, The New Mexican reported.
The three men denied knowing anything about the stolen items, according to police.
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