Cat burned in arson fire Rio Rancho, NM (US)Incident Date: Thursday, Jun 1, 2006 County: Sandoval
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Ryan Vigil
It took barely eight hours for the Rio Rancho Department of Public Safety to solve a June 1 afternoon arson and arrest a 15-year-old Rio Rancho boy on charges of arson, two counts of burglary, cruelty to animals and criminal damage to property.
DPS spokesman John Francis said Ryan Vigil was arrested shortly after 10 p.m. on June 1 and taken to a juvenile detention facility in connection with a house fire at 700 Vancouver Road.
The fire, which was reported at about 2 p.m. to DPS, was termed "suspicious" after firefighters responding to the blaze and quickly extinguishing it noticed signs of a break-in.
A neighbor told police she had seen a juvenile with a backpack run from the rear of the home and jump an eight-foot cinderblock wall shortly before the fire was reported. Police investigated and confirmed it was apparent a burglary had preceded the fire.
No one was at home at the time of the fire, but Anthony Marquez, who had been working as a landscaper in the new Cabezon development when he got a call about his house being on fire, said he and his wife Debra had lived there for about 17 years. Marquez said the home had been broken into about a month ago and although nothing appeared to be missing, the screens on the TVs had been smashed.
Before learning on the morning of June 2 that an arrest had been made on June 1 evening, Francis had said, "We're following up on several leads and working alongside the fire marshal's office. It's definitely suspicious."
Although no one was injured battling the fire, a family cat perished, thus the cruelty to animals charge lodged against Vigil. Francis said he didn't know why Vigil chose the Marquez home to break into, and that he didn't reside in the neighborhood. References |