Burglar suspected to be abductor

—JOHN PAUL TRUJILLO, SANDOVAL COUNTY SHERIFF
The Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office responded to a home on 10th Avenue in Rio Rancho on May 21, 2006, in the early hours of the morning. The family living in the home reported there had been an intruder that attempted to abduct a seven-year-old girl. After sunrise, shoe prints were located and followed to a house down the street where deputies began surveillance. A male was observed leaving the home and approached by deputies who noticed the male wearing shoes consistent with the shoe pattern from the victim’s home. The male, identified as seventeen-year-old Leroy Lopez, was detained and later questioned. Lopez later confessed to entering into the home to burglarize it. Lopez denied any other purpose of entering the home but to burglarize it. The victim was given a safe house interview. The investigation concluded that there was no attempted abduction or any sexual offense toward the seven-year-old girl. Lopez was booked into the juvenile detention center for aggravated burglary.