Heist in Milan

CIBOLA COUNTY, N.M. – The morning hours of January 18 proved eventful for the law enforcement agencies of Cibola County, New Mexico. Two thieves allegedly broke into the Iron Skillet Restaurant on Motel Drive in Milan, N.M., and without setting off any alarms they stole a safe with an undisclosed amount of cash inside. Using a truck they had allegedly stolen from Continental Divide Electric Cooperative earlier in the morning from the City of Grants, N.M., the thieves dragged the safe down Motel Drive and through Ambrosia Street, causing scrapes to the road. After a chase, the vehicle was recovered down Zuni Canyon, the CDEC truck was recovered but the safe and its contents were missing. While the contents of the safe were not disclosed due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, MPD informed the Cibola Citizen that the cash amount inside was not enough to be considered a felony burglary.

Milan Police Department is investigating the burglary and is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying the assailants.

Stolen truck Grants Police Department confirmed that two trucks were stolen from the City of Grants in the early morning hours of Jan. 18, one from Grants-Cibola County School District and the other from Continental Divide Electric Cooperative. Video footage of the assailants from the vehicle lots were grainy, making identification of any person difficult. Making identification more difficult, the thieves were completely covered up, with masks, gloves, and hats while dressed in all black.

As of press time, the GCCS truck has not been discovered. The CDEC truck was identified as the vehicle used in the heist. As of press time, in details they have released, law enforcement has not connected the two stolen trucks to the heist. Inside the CDEC truck, thieves found CDEC uniforms and name tags, hard hats and a dolly to move heavy items.

The heist

Using a CDEC truck, dressed in the power utility’s uniforms with nametags attached, thieves went around the back of the restaurant. Without setting off any alarms in the building, the pair of thieves allegedly breached the rear door, and with the dolly they acquired, went to work stealing the day safe. “Businesses know not to leave large quantities of cash in their safe,” Milan Police Department’s Sergeant Joe Galindo explained, “They deposit extra money before the end of the day.” Perhaps not realizing this fact, the alleged thieves went to work at stealing the safe. After much difficulty, the duo attached the safe to the back of the truck, unable to get in the bed of the vehicle and drove away. MPD confirmed that the cash amount stolen was not enough to be considered felony burglary.

The assailants wore masks, gloves, and hard hats to conceal their identity from video camera footage while taking the safe.

Not long after, a phone call came into the Cibola County Regional Dispatch informing law enforcement of a “red service truck” that appeared to be hauling an “ATM machine” behind it. It didn’t take the Cibola County Sheriff’s Office and Milan Police Department long to discover the CDEC truck, which identified as the “red service truck” hauling the safe. A chase ensued.

The trail goes cold

The short chase was dangerous enough that law enforcement couldn’t pursue at the level they wanted. As law enforcement approached the turn from pavement to gravel on Zuni Canyon Road, they discovered the CDEC truck, abandoned. There was no sign of the safe, or the pair of thieves. Milan Police Department and the Cibola County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant in relation to the heist at a residence on Ambrosia Street in Milan, N.M. The warrant turned up no evidence in connection to the heist, but law enforcement did discover narcotics inside the home.

Milan Police Department is asking for the community’s assistance in identifying the thieves. Call Cibola County CrimeStoppers at 505-287-8400, or MPD at 505-285-3466 if you have any information.