Residents got an unpleasant surprise when an accused intruder was wandering around entering homes in an East Side neighborhood last week.
El Paso police arrested Leroy Quintana, 29, on home burglary, trespassing and drug-related charges on Friday afternoon, Nov. 8, in the Vista de Oro neighborhood next to Yarbrough Drive, according to jail records.
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All five cases in the same day, going into a couple of homes in a neighborhood where he basically has no business in these homes,” Assistant District Attorney John Briggs said during a Sunday teleconference bond hearing.
Leroy Quintana was arrested by El Paso police on burglary, trespassing and drug-related charges after allegedly entering homes in an East Side neighborhood on Nov. 8, 2024.
At the hearing, Magistrate Judge Antonio Aun refused to lower Quintana’s bond citing the safety of the community and prior noncompliance with release stipulations in past cases.
Quintana, who resides at a homeless shelter, remains incarcerated under a total bond of $60,000 at the El Paso County Jail in Downtown.
Women find intruder inside homes in East Side neighborhood
During the hearing, Briggs gave a summary describing encounters between homeowners and an intruder identified as Quintana. It was not specified if doors to the houses had been left unlocked.
∎ A woman found Quintana inside her home garage in the 10600 block of Sombra Verde Drive, Briggs said. The woman thought it was her husband making noise. When she went to go look, she found Quintana in the garage. She ordered him to leave and he did.
∎ A street over, a woman was overseeing remodeling being done at a home in the 10600 block of Vista Alegre Drive when she saw who at first she thought might be one of the workers, Briggs said. After the woman verified no work was being done that day, she found Quintana had allegedly wandered in with a blanket and was trying to sleep inside the house. She ordered him to leave and he did.
∎ A woman was in an upstairs bedroom when she heard someone enter and was wandering around in her home in the 1300 block of Vista de Oro Drive. Quintana allegedly went into the master bedroom and put on a pair of women’s jean shorts, Briggs said. The resident ordered him to leave and he did.
Police officers found and arrested Quintana in the driveway of the house across the street.
Meth allegedly found on burglary suspect
Officers found Quintana allegedly had four grams of methamphetamine in his pocket, the prosecutor said. Later that afternoon at a police station, Quintana allegedly shattered a glass pipe used to smoke drugs that he had concealed on his person by throwing it into a toilet.
Quintana was booked into jail on two counts of criminal trespassing, burglary of habitation, possession of a controlled substance and tampering with evidence for trying to get rid of the glass pipe.
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El Paso County Jail records show that Quintana had been released on Sept. 19 after spending a month in jail on a probation violations on a half dozen charges, including drug possession, theft, evading arrest in a vehicle and aggravated assault against a public servant.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso police arrest East Side serial home intruder suspect
