A Las Cruces woman was arrested Monday after she was seen trespassing onto her mother in-law’s property to allegedly take back her own belongings and also to sell a reportedly stolen above-ground swimming pool.
Laura Elizabeth Maestas, 28, was interviewed by Doña Ana County Sheriff’s deputies after a neighbor called 911 to report suspicious activity at a nearby residence in the 5200 block of Comanche Trail.
According to court documents, Maestas was in the company of four other individuals who believed they were going to the property to help Maestas complete the sale of an above-ground pool that was left at the house on Comanche Trail.
Several witnesses who accompanied Maestas told investigators Maestas also removed an air conditioner from the window of the mobile home to go inside and take a baby’s high-chair and other belongings that Maestas claimed were hers.
When interviewed, another witness told investigators the pool never belonged to the homeowner, but had instead been reportedly been stolen from a local home improvement store by the homeowner’s son, who is currently being detained at the Doña Ana County Detention Center on an unrelated matter.
The owner of the property was contacted and told investigators the residence has been vacant since October 2013, after which all the locks had been changed. The owner also said her daughter in-law did not have keys to the residence and did not have permission to take or sell anything from the property.
She did not recall where the pool came from, nor could she produce a receipt for the pool.
Maestas was arrested and charged with breaking and entering. She was transported to the Doña Ana County Detention Center where she is being held on a $5,000 secured bond. At the time of her arrest, she had an outstanding warrant for failure to appear that carried a cash bond of $367.
All witnesses cooperated with sheriff’s investigators. No additional charges will be filed.