High school burglary leads to arrest of Rio Hondo man

By FRANCISCO E. JIMENEZ
Staff Writer
reporter@sbnewspaper.com

The Precinct 7 Cameron County Constable’s Office responded to a call on Thursday, May 19 pertaining to a burglary of the Santa Maria High School, which occurred the night before.

Upon arriving at the school, deputies made contact with school personnel. The deputies recovered surveillance video of the burglary in progress, and were able to identify the suspects as three males and one female, allegedly students of the Santa Maria School District.

The burglary suspects are reported to have stolen various electronics including computers and video equipment, and are accused of sold the items for cash and marijuana.

According to a press release, information obtained through a lead led Constable Cesar Rene Diaz and his deputies to a residence in Rio Hondo, where contact was made with 22-year-old Mauricio Bocanegra on Tuesday, May 24 at approximately 10:30 a.m. Bocanegra was accused of allegedly taking possession of the stolen property.

Bocanegra was arrested along with one of the juveniles after he allegedly provided investigators with a statement confessing to buying the stolen property from the juveniles and trading over two-ounces of marijuana for one of the stolen items.

The other juveniles were arrested the next day at approximately 9 a.m. Among them was the female who allegedly left one of the classroom windows open with the intention of returning later to steal the items. According to Sgt. Delgado, she later decided not to go through with the burglary, and she was not present with the other juveniles while the burglary was in progress. She was arrested for her alleged participation in the burglary.

The four juveniles were processed and transported to the Darrell Hester Juvenile Justice Center in San Benito. Bocanegra was taken to the Carrizales-Rucker Detention Center in Olmito where he was arraigned by Cameron County Magistrate Patricia Edelstein. He was charged with one count of theft by possession, a Class “A” Misdemeanor, punishable by one year in jail and a $4,000 fine and one count of endangering a child, a state jail felony punishable by 180 days to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

To see this story in print, pick up a copy of the June 1 edition of the San Benito News. Or view our E-Edition by clicking here.