By Hailey Heinz and T.J. Wilham
The Albuquerque Journal
ALBUQUERQUE — Four men accused of holding up a Starbucks on Tuesday night didn’t realize they had an audience.
Police said a group of detectives was watching the business when they saw the alleged robbers go into the coffee shop. The detectives followed the men when they left, suspecting they had just witnessed a robbery in the 1600 block of Juan Tabo.
They were right. A few minutes later, a barista called 911 reporting she had been robbed.
The plain-clothes detectives quickly pulled over the getaway vehicle and took the four into custody, according to court records.
Police say the men they caught may be responsible for up to 15 holdups in recent months in the metropolitan area.
They were arrested by members of an armed robbery task force that Police Chief Ray Schultz formed recently. In addition to their regular duties, the detectives work overtime conducting surveillance on suspects and businesses that are potential targets.
Of the suspects, three had prior arrests.
One of the suspects was convicted in a 1998 killing and had been arrested five months earlier for armed robbery. Together, the suspects had 12 prior arrests.
Charged with armed robbery were: Ricardo Hernandez, 22, Ray Castillo, 19, Pete Lujan, 17, and Devon Lovato, 17. All four admitted to using heroin before the Starbucks robbery, police said.
Hernandez and Castillo were being held late Wednesday at the Metropolitan Detention Center in lieu of $200,000 cashonly bonds.
“I am very happy with the $200,000 bonds,” Schultz said. “It makes me feel more at ease because I know where they are going to be tonight.”
Police say Hernandez was the leader of the four suspects.
In 1998, Hernandez and his brother, Tony, were charged in the death of Baudel Vasquez, who was shot while in an Oldsmobile on Gibson SE near Buena Vista after an argument between rival gangs at a nearby restaurant, according to court records.
Hernandez, who was 13 at the time of the homicide, was initially charged with accessory to murder. Police said he pleaded to tampering with evidence charges and was sentenced to two years’ probation.
Hernandez was charged in another armed robbery earlier this year. Police arrested him in January after he allegedly robbed a Wendy’s restaurant on San Mateo, according to a criminal complaint.
In that case, Hernandez was arrested after a Wendy’s clerk gave a detailed description of his getaway car. The case was dismissed because Hernandez was a passenger in the getaway vehicle and couldn’t be directly linked to the crime, prosecutors said.
Lujan has been arrested twice since 2005, once for aggravated battery and once for receiving or transferring a stolen car, according to police records.
Castillo has arrests starting in 2003, including bringing a deadly weapon to school, receiving and transferring a stolen vehicle and violating probation. The fourth defendant, Lovato, is known to have gang connections, Schultz said.
“I used to have rap sheets, now I have rap books,” he said, flipping through a thick folder on a recent suspect. “We need to send a strong message that these crimes will be aggressively investigated, arrests will be made and people will be held accountable,” he said.
According to APD’s latest crime statistics, armed robberies have increased 29 percent compared to last year.
As part of the armed-robbery initiative, Schultz said detectives will be out every day. They dress in street clothes and drive cars seized from alleged drunken drivers.
APD has been spending about $7,000 a week in overtime on the task force.
“Last night that money paid off,” Schultz said. “This sends a message to criminals. They have to wonder now, is this a crime of opportunity, or are there cops waiting around the corner?”
Copyright 2008 The Albuquerque Journal