Former Tucumcari police officer faces felony charges in arson

Recently resigned Tucumcari Police Officer Dustin "Dusty" Lopez was charged Tuesday with arson and conspiracy to commit arson in Quay County Magistrate Court, according to nmcourts.gov.

New Mexico State Police Investigation Bureau Officer Chester Bobbit filed the charges with Quay County Magistrate Judge Joel Garnett.

Lopez had been the target of a state police investigation in a series of arson fires in the city during September, according to court records.

Lopez resigned Oct. 2, the day after New Mexico State Police searched his home.

Lopez did not give a reason for his decision to resign, said Tucumcari Police Chief Jason Braziel.

Braziel said Lopez was not placed on administrative leave and he was not asked or forced to resign. He said Lopez’s decision to leave the department was his own. Lopez turned in his badge and duty vehicle and is no longer a member of the department, said Braziel.

Charged with Lopez were Dani J. Martinez and Robert Sandoval, both of Tucumcari. Both are also facing felony charges of arson and conspiracy to commit arson.

Lopez, Martinez and Sandoval entered no plea at an arraignment hearing Wednesday morning before Garnett. Bail for Lopez and Sandoval was set at $100,000. On Friday morning, they remained in custody at the Quay County Detention Center. Martinez was released on Wednesday from QCDC on a $50,000 unsecured appearance bond.

According to an affidavit filed in Quay County Magistrate Court:

A witness said in the early morning of Sept. 3, Lopez and Sandoval set a couch on fire inside a residence of the 500 block of North Fourth Street. The fire then spread to the rest of the house.

After the fire department responded to that fire, the witness said Lopez, Martinez and Sandoval left the area in Sandoval’s vehicle. The witness said that when the three returned, the witness informed them that firefighters had to leave the residence fire to respond to another blaze.

State police learned there was evidence on Lopez’s cell phone connecting him and four others with other arson fires that occurred in Tucumcari in September, including pictures of a building burning that witnesses believe was the Tucumcari Inn. The Inn burned down two days after the Payless Inn burned to the ground in a suspicious fire.

Investigators seized Lopez's cell phone while executing the search warrant, according to court records.

Additional witnesses also implicated Lopez in arsons that occurred in the city in September.

According to Tucumcari Fire Chief Larry Rigdon, September’s suspicious fires included:

• A house fire on the 500 block of North Fourth Street on Sept. 3 that gutted the structure

• The Payless Inn blaze that destroyed three builidngs on that same early morning.

• The Tucumcari Inn fire Sept. 5 that burned the building to the ground

• Fires on Sept. 26 that destroyed an abandoned house at East Main and South Dawson streets, Tucumcari, and damaged another abandoned building.