By MAIRE O’NEILLNichole Lynn Borrego, 28, of Chimayo has been arrested and charged with the theft of four handguns and a camera from a Los Alamos home she was hired to clean.
The complaint filed against Borrego alleges she stole a Ruger 45, a 38 Special Colt revolver, a .38 Smith & Wesson BNP model revolver and a Colt .380 as well as a camera valued at $800 between April 13 and May 3.
According to documents filed by Los Alamos Police Det. Ryan Wolking in Los Alamos Magistrate Court, he asked Borrego to go to the police department May 22 for an interview during which she admitted to taking the five items.
“Nichole explained she took the five items because her life was stressful and she was tired of being the responsible one in her family,” Wolking’s affidavit for an arrest warrant states. It goes on to say that Borrego would not tell Wolking where the items were, only that they were at a house in Albuquerque, but told him she would recover them and bring them to him.
Wolking arrested Borrego on two outstanding warrants from another jurisdiction. Borrego supplied him with the address she would be staying at in Albuquerque after she was released from Rio Arriba County Detention Center on the outstanding warrants and agreed to call him immediately upon her release from custody. The affidavit states that Wolking did not charge Borrego at that time because if she was incarcerated she would be unable to recover the stolen items and bring them to him.
Following her release May 24, the affidavit states that Borrego would no longer respond to attempts by Wolking to contact her and did not call him as promised. It says Borrego also would not respond to the victim whom she had contacted from jail to ask for bail so that she could be released to retrieve the stolen items.
Magistrate Judge Pat Casados signed the warrant May 25 for Borrego’s arrest and she was taken into custody May 26 in Albuquerque. Wolking’s justification for the warrant was that Borrego was driving on a revoked license and was in possession of four stolen handguns making her a danger to society and anyone around her. He also said she does not have an address or any further personal or work connections in Los Alamos, that she had provided a false address for her sister in Albuquerque and that she has indicated to him that she is looking for a place to work, making Wolking believe she is a flight risk. Her two warrants from Rio Arriba County were for failure to appear in court.
