Two suspects plead not guilty to charges in Comfort Inn robbery

Two suspects plead not guilty to charges in Comfort Inn robbery

April 19, 2001

By Aspen C. Emmett
Journal Staff Writer

Two of four juvenile suspects in the March 19 armed robbery of the Comfort Inn entered pleas of not guilty to numerous felony and misdemeanor charges following a preliminary hearing in district court Tuesday. The other two are considering plea bargains offered by the district attorney’s office.

The four juveniles have been charged as adults, and two other suspects in the case, Zachary Sullivan, 21, and Albert Gutierrez, 19, were arraigned on similar charges in county court Wednesday. The two adults also face charges in New Mexico stemming from the search warrant.

All six suspects are from San Juan County, N.M., where they were apprehended the afternoon following the alleged incident.

According to police reports, two males entered the Comfort Inn around 1:30 a.m. and were inquiring about a room when a male wearing a black cape and a bandana over his mouth came in, pulled out a short shotgun, and demanded money from the female clerk.

The masked person then allegedly picked up a plastic brochure-holder and hurled it, striking the clerk in the left arm. When she turned to get the money, a fourth male entered and demanded the clerk’s identification card. The woman said she did not have her ID and the four men reportedly left in a vehicle with two other people.

Montezuma County Sheriff’s Detective Lt. Kalvin Boggs testified Tuesday that the owner of the Comfort Inn, who also owns the Days Inn, had seen two suspicious individuals fitting the suspects’ descriptions 15 minutes before the robbery at his other motel.

The owner told police that one of the men had filled out a room registration card, providing his name, address and vehicle description, but left to get a credit card to pay for the room and never returned.

Boggs said the information on the card led detectives to a home in San Juan County, where the suspects were apprehended. He also testified that two of the individuals had confessed to their role in the robbery and had implicated the other four.

The two alleged gunmen, 16-year-olds Nicholas Robinson and Joshua Archuleta, were not offered plea bargains by the DA’s office, and trial dates were set for late September.

Robinson’s defense attorney, Suzanne Carlson, told the court she believes identification will be an issue in the case because there had not yet been a line-up for the motel clerk to provide any ID of her client.

Both suspects remain in custody at the juvenile detention center in Durango.

Marcus Bradley, 16, who claims to have played a very minor part in the robbery, was released Tuesday to his parents and is scheduled to enter a plea next week. Allison Herrera-Hunt, 17, who reportedly stayed in the truck during the alleged robbery, is scheduled to enter a plea and possibly be released tomorrow.