Font ResizeRADIUM SPRINGS - Two Las Cruces middle schoolers and a high schooler were arrested after Doña Ana sheriff's deputies followed shoe prints from a burglarized business to a home on Nov. 24, the sheriff's office announced Wednesday.
Deputies Josh Sheldon, Manny Maynes and Eric Lopez, investigating a break-in at the Country Cupboard Store on Fort Selden Road, followed shoe prints from inside the store to one suspect's home on Fort Marcy Trail, less than half a mile away.
Deputies reportedly found Spencer McCullough, 14, a Sierra Middle School student; Luis Diaz, 13, a Picacho Middle School student; and Mayfield High School student Luis Ramirez, 14, at Ramirez's home on Fort Marcy Trail.
The teens allegedly confessed to stealing candy after they had tried to hack open the store's back door with an ax and had finally broken a window with the ax to get in. Once inside, the teens allegedly caused extensive damage to the cash register, a coffee pot, a food stamp machine, a glass table and a microwave before shutting off the power and ruining $1,300 in food that spoiled in the freezers and coolers.
Investigator Erik Cook arrested and charged the teens, two of whom - Diaz and Ramirez - allegedly admitted to previously burglarizing the same business, 17 miles north of Las Cruces.
