Woman held in jail after crime spree
24-year-old faces five criminal charges
Weeks after a judge released her from jail while she awaited trial on a burglary charge, police again arrested a Santa Fe woman over the weekend on suspicion of stealing more than $26,000 in jewelry from a downtown business, the latest in a string of criminal cases filed against her this year.
Officer Brandon Deets filed a criminal complaint Monday that said Manuia Perrier, 24, admitted to taking the jewelry when he arrested her Friday at the Western Scene Motel on Cerrillos Road on a second-degree felony count of shoplifting over $20,000 from Palace 66, a jewelry store on Palace Avenue. In addition, she admitted to stealing an $80 tool from a man who gave her a ride to the motel on Thursday evening, said the officer, who also arrested her on suspicion of a petty misdemeanor of larceny.
It is one of five active criminal cases filed against Perrier this year in Santa Fe and Sandoval counties that include burglary, drug possession, driving under the influence, child abuse and battery of a household member, court records show.
On May 4, officers had arrested Perrier on a Jan. 27 indictment charging her with three felony counts of residential burglary, larceny and tampering with evidence, as well as a petty misdemeanor of receiving stolen property. On May 15, state District Judge T. Glenn Ellington ordered Perrier to be released on electronic monitoring and a $2,500 secured bond.
On May 24, an officer arrested her on four petty misdemeanor charges, including driving while impaired and careless driving, records show. Officer Heinz De Luca wrote in a statement that he found Perrier asleep in her car in the middle of Jaguar Drive. He said she was disoriented and drowsy, admitted to taking an anti-anxiety drug, had slurred speech and that her arms had “puncture marks along her veins similar to those known as track marks normally associated with intravenous drug users.”
On May 25, Santa Fe County Magistrate George Anaya Jr. released Perrier on a $2,500 unsecured appearance bond after she pleaded not guilty to those charges. His order says he released Perrier because the charges were nonviolent offenses, there was no indication of flight risk, and she had no “significant criminal history” on the website nmcourts.gov.
The following day, on May 26, Sandoval County prosecutors filed charges against Perrier for third-degree felony child abuse and misdemeanor battery against a household member stemming from an incident at the home of her mother and stepfather in Corrales, according to online court records.
On June 9, Ellington issued a warrant for her arrest for violating terms of her release. And, after Perrier failed to show up for a June 26 appearance in Sandoval County Magistrate Court, another bench warrant was issued for her arrest, records show.
On Monday, Santa Fe County Magistrate David Serna ordered Perrier held in jail without bond.
Contact Justin Horwath at 505-986-3017 or jhorwath@ sfnewmexican.com.