January 17, 2008
Would-Be Panaca Robbers Caught

By Dave Maxwell

Tire tracks in the snow led to the arrest of four men in Cedar City, Utah. The four suspects are accused of burglary of businesses in Cedar City, and Beryl, Utah and Panaca, Nevada during the early morning hours of January 6 and January 9.

Lincoln County Sheriff, Kerry Lee, reported the men apparently had been in Panaca late Saturday night, January 5, and early Sunday morning, January 6. A call from a security alarm company alerted the Sheriff’s Office to an attempted break-in at the Panaca Market. Lee said a deputy arrived on the scene a few minutes after the call and investigated. The deputy found that the front glass door of the market had been broken out and there were tire tracks and shoe tracks in the fresh snow. Lee said, “It appeared the suspects had broken the window out with an unknown object and shaken the metal frame of the door so hard to get the glass out, they actually broke the door off the hinges.” Storeowner, Robert Dotson, was notified, but when he arrived, he did not find evidence of anything being stolen from inside the store. The deputy then patrolled the area for the next several hours, but did not see any suspects.

When Cindy-Sooz Restaurant opened at 6 am Sunday morning, they found that the drive-up window had been broken out, possibly by the same suspects.

Lee said that during the investigation, deputies also found surveillance tapes at the Panaca Carwash that showed what may be the same suspects attempting to break into the candy machine. However, he said, while the tapes show individuals getting out of the car, they could not identify anyone as being male or female.

Steve McCrosky, owner of the McCrosky’s Y Shell, near Panaca, reported that a vehicle matching the description of the one seen at the carwash, pulled into the Shell parking lot about 12:30 am Sunday morning and appeared to be “casing the place,” but soon left and drove into Panaca.

Lee said when he called the Iron County Sheriff’s Office in Cedar City to report the break-ins in Panaca, possibly involving a car with Utah plates, the officer asked him if the suspect vehicle was a dark green Lincoln? Learning that it was, the deputy told Lee that four men, three adults and one juvenile, driving a dark green Lincoln, had been apprehended after attempting to burglarize a fast food restaurant in Cedar City.

The group had committed at least three robberies in Utah, including stealing thousands of dollars worth of tools, equipment, food, and supplies from Crossroads Equipment in Beryl, which they had robbed twice. The suspects were apprehended after robbing the restaurant because city police followed the car’s tire tracks, in new fallen snow, to the men’s apartment and made the arrests.

The men were identified by Cedar City Police Lt. Keith Millet, as 23-year-old Christian Alberto Alcala; 23-year-old Juan Jose Maldonado; and 18-year-old Guadalupe Belmeceda Castillo, all living in Cedar City. They were booked into the Iron County Jail, while the 16-year-old juvenile was placed in the juvenile facility. All have been charged with burglary. Iron County Sheriff’s Detective, Dave Mitchell, said the group is also suspected in a number of other burglaries in the Cedar City area.

Lee said he was told by the Iron County Sheriff’s Department that one of the suspects told officers the group's method of operation was “to break out a window or a door of a business, then back off and hide to see if any law enforcement responded. If not, then they went in and robbed the business.”

“What saved all the Panaca businesses from being robbed,” Lee said, “was the vigilance of the officer to stay on patrol after the security call, and the alarm system at the Panaca Market. Without him being around, the places would have been robbed.”

Lee thought that because of the seriousness of the crimes in Utah, the group would probably be tried only in Utah and not brought back to Nevada.

Sheriff Lee reminds all citizens to be vigilant and report suspicious looking people or vehicles they might see around the County.