BY MAIRE O’NEILL
maire@losalamosreporter.com

Robbie Vigil, 25, of Taos will remain in custody at the Taos Detention Center until trial following a ruling Thursday by Los Alamos Magistrate Judge Catherine Taylor. The prosecutor in the case is Elizabeth Counce.

Vigil was arrested in Los Alamos August 14 by Los Alamos Police Department and charged with possession of a firearm by a felon. He was subsequently charged in Taos with aggravated fleeing a police officer and possession of a controlled substance. Vigil faces preliminary hearings later this month in both jurisdictions.

LAPD officers responded August 14 to a report of a reckless driver heading west on East Road. The driver, identified as Vigil, told officers his driver’s license had been suspended. Officers determined that both Vigil and the owner of the vehicle who was travelling with him had outstanding warrants. Both were placed under arrest and a tow truck was requested.

When Sgt. David Randleman and Cpl. Adam Jung began conducting an inventory of the vehicle, they located a 16-gauge Winchester pump shotgun in the rear seat floorboard with the butt of the shotgun on the driver’s side directly behind the driver’s seat. Officers also located several burnt pieces of aluminum foil and several burnt straws in a backpack that was open and contained several women’s wallets including one that contained cards belonging to Vigil’s passenger.

Court documents indicate that Vigil told officers that whatever they found belonged to neither him or his passenger and that he knew the shotgun was in the car.

Vigil was initially out of custody on a cash bond and pre-trial services but violated conditions of release by not reporting for a drug screen and his subsequent failure to appear in Los Alamos Magistrate Court. He also acquired the new charges in Taos and was placed in custody there.

Judge Taylor ruled Thursday that the State proved with the nature of the new charges in Taos and the facts of his original charges in Los Alamos, that Vigil posed a substantial risk to the safety of the community. Public Defender Benjamin Burk, who represented Vigil argued that he did not pose any threat to the community. Judge Taylor revoked Vigil’s conditions of release and placed him on a no bond hold for the pendency of the case.