Carjacking suspect arrested in Colorado

A suspected New Mexico carjacker was taken into custody by Colorado authorities on Saturday, State Police said in a news release.

Tranquilino Louis Valencia, 33, was arrested in Alamosa County, Colo., after he was involved in a traffic collision, according to the news release. Valencia was one of three men wanted in connection with a robbery and carjacking in Pecos on Friday morning.

Police suspect Valencia of robbing a man with a handgun at an ATM near a Family Dollar in Pecos around 8 a.m. on Friday, along with Mariano Francisco Araica-Avalos, 26, and Terry Silva, 17. After that crime, Valencia and Silva are suspected of stealing a blue Honda Civic on N.M. 63 near a Dalton Canyon campground.

Police issued a warrant for Valencia’s arrest on a variety of charges, including two counts of armed robbery and aggravated assault.

Araica-Avalos was arrested by State Police on Friday and is being charged with aggravated fleeing from law enforcement, theft of a credit card and fraudulent use of a credit card. The release made no mention of the Silva’s whereabouts.

Valencia has an arrest record dating back to at least 2006, mostly in the Taos area. Just last month, he was charged with possession of a controlled substance and resisting officers. In 2014, he was charged with criminal damage to property, but the case was dismissed. In 2013, he pleaded guilty-no contest to committing battery upon a peace officer. Some of the other charges against him in other cases involving burglary and breaking and entering were either dismissed or ended in acquittal.