Staff Report

The charge against a Los Alamos National Laboratory employee of criminal damage of more than $1,800 to a vehicle belonging to another Lab employee has been dismissed.

First Judicial District Deputy District Attorney Kent Walhquist filed the dismissal Thursday in Los Alamos Magistrate Court for the charge against Robert Winkel stating that restitution has been made in the case and the interests of justice are best served through dismissal of the charge.

Winkel was charged pursuant to an investigation into damage to a vehicle belonging to a group leader who reportedly had some authority over the Lab area where he and his wife are employed.

Evidence in the case included video of a man dragging an object across the victim’s vehicle. Winkel initially claimed he did not know who the person in the video was, that the person could not be identified and that the person’s hand could not be seen.