Jose Mascarenas of San Juan Pueblo

Staff Report

Jose Mascarenas, 41, of San Juan Pueblo is scheduled July 27 for a preliminary hearing in Los Alamos Magistrate Court on charges of shoplifting and possession of a controlled substance. 

Mascarenas was arrested July 5 after loss prevention personnel at Smith’s Marketplace allegedly observed him take a packet of lighters from a display rack and conceal it in his back pocket.

Mascarenas was escorted to the loss prevention office where he was met by Los Alamos Police Cpl. Sheldon Simpson. After being placed in handcuffs, a second packet of lighters was found in Mascarenas’s back pocket. He was transported to the Los Alamos Detention Center where staff allegedly found cocaine on his person. He also was served with an arrest order from Espanola where he was reportedly on probation at the time of the Los Alamos arrest.