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Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Fugitive 'Armed and Dangerous'
By Jeff Proctor
Journal Staff Writer
Police "won't take any chances" in their search for 25-year-old gang member Francisco Melgar, who detectives suspect was one of the men who stormed a West Side Denny's over the weekend and killed an employee during a strong-arm holdup."We consider him armed and dangerous," Police Chief Ray Schultz said Monday of Melgar, who is described as 5 feet 6 inches tall, about 150 pounds and a member of the infamous Salvadoran MS-13 gang.
Melgar
Stephanie Anderson, 34, of Albuquerque, was killed when Melgar, 32-year-old Pablo Ortiz, Marvin Lopez-Aguilar, 22, and possibly a fourth man came into the Denny's restaurant at Coors and Iliff NW about 10 a.m. Saturday, police say.
Anderson, who was working as a cook, was shot at least once, according to police.
Detectives say one more suspect might still be at large. Local authorities are working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, the FBI's gang task force and the U.S. Marshals Service to identify and locate the possible fourth suspect.
Ortiz and Lopez-Aguilar were arrested in the hours after the shooting Saturday. They appeared before a judge Monday afternoon via video-conference from the Metropolitan Detention Center.
The two will remain at the jail without bond until they are arraigned in District Court sometime before July 7. Both men, who told police they are from El Salvador, face one count each of murder, 40 counts apiece of kidnapping, one robbery charge, five child abuse charges and one charge of evidence tampering.
Ortiz and Lopez-Aguilar both have "immigration holds," but their status in the United States is unclear. An immigration hold generally means that ICE is detaining someone due to an alleged violation of immigration law or outstanding deportation order.
Metropolitan Court Judge Rachel Walker rejected a motion from Ortiz's and Lopez-Aguilar's defense attorney to dismiss the kidnapping and child abuse charges. Those charges are due to the fact that there were about 40 people in the Denny's at the time of the robbery and shooting, some of whom were children.
The two are "a continual danger to the community and a flight risk," the judge said from the bench. "In reading this complaint, I find these charges and allegations horrific and senseless. This was a restaurant they entered, killing someone in front of patrons who, presumably, included children."
Melgar and Ortiz had the El Salvador telephone country code "503" shaved into the back of their heads, police say. It is one moniker for MS-13, which is made up of mostly El Salvadoran immigrants and has a bloody history in the United States and abroad.
Detectives said they believe "only a very few" MS-13 members are in New Mexico.
One Albuquerque family was "extremely fortunate" on Saturday, Schultz said.
The man, who spoke with the Journal after being interviewed by police, said he may have accidentally given one of the suspects a ride away from the scene of the robbery.
That suspect turned out to be Melgar, the chief said Monday.
The driver said he, his 1-year-old daughter and a friend were on their way to a mall when they stopped to give a man a ride about 1 p.m. The man had been sitting under a tree near 86th and Central.
Melgar told the driver he had killed someone, adding that there were guns stashed somewhere and that he had "already touched them."
The driver said Melgar then asked for a ride to a nearby McDonald's and to use the driver's cell phone.
"He made a phone call to somebody to come pick him up, and, after we dropped him off, we came straight back here to the (trailer park) to let (the police) know what was going on," the driver said.
Schultz said the driver dropped Melgar off near 98th and Central SW. Melgar has not been seen since.
A warrant has been issued for his arrest and the same charges the other two suspects face.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call 242-COPS, 1 (877) SOLV-APD or 843-STOP.
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