Police say they have suspect in March 1 arson fire.

 

At least $60,000 is missing from a safe at the Fraternal Order of Eagles club that suffered a fire on March 1 that has been determined to be arson,  El Defensor Chieftain in Socorro reported on its Web site over the weekend.

Socorro police detective Angel Garcia earlier told the paper that local police are working with the state fire marshal and the New Mexico Gaming Commission to determine the cause of three separate fires inside the building.

The fires, which are being investigated as arson, were out by the time firefighters arrived at the building and had caused minimal damage, the Defensor-Chieftain reported.

Garcia now confirms that at least $60,000 is missing from a safe at the club and that the amount may turn out to be more once the Gaming Commission goes through the books, the paper reported.

Also missing, Garcia told the paper, was financial documentation from the gaming portion of the club that was to have been turned into the Gaming Commission on the day of the fire.

The club had not turned over financial documentation to the commission for the past nine months, and the club hasn't paid its gaming-machine vendors or taxes in that period, Garcia told the Defensor-Chieftain.

But the detective said a video surveillance tape of the club's interior and exterior has been retrieved and that police have a suspect, who has retained an attorney, the paper said.

Neither the suspect's name nor the contents of the tape have been released, and Garcia said police will likely wait to file any charges once the Gaming Commission has completed its probe, the Defensor-Chieftain reported.

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