Man caught with Molotov cocktails

A detective responding to a call at Albertsons on North Guadalupe Street found a man making Molotov cocktails near the supermarket’s loading docks, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday.

Around 4:30 a.m. Friday, a store manager reported a man was “attempting to set fire to an apparatus which he believed to be an explosive device,” the document said.

Police reported finding Anthony Rodriguez, 39, of Ohkay Owingeh near the loading docks, where he admitted to filling bottles with lighter fluid and sticking rags in the bottles. He told police he was trying to “protect himself from ‘cartel’ members who he believed were after him for an unpaid drug debt,” according to the complaint. Police said officers found the Molotov cocktails nearby.

Rodriguez was charged with two counts of possession of an explosive or incendiary device, a fourth-degree felony.

Also filed on Monday was a misdemeanor charge alleging that Rodriguez after his incarceration was found in possession of the medication Suboxone inside the jail.

Rodriguez pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charge Monday and is scheduled to appear at a hearing regarding the charges on Oct. 18.

As of Monday, Rodriguez was still being held in jail in response to a warrant charging failure to comply with conditions of his release from the Santa Fe County Jail in July.

Rodriguez’ court record shows he pleaded guilty to felony possession of heroin in 2007 and felony shoplifting in 2010 and has faced a number of other felony and misdemeanor charges.