By Shaun Friedrichsen, News Director
Alliance Times-Herald
An abandoned bag with burglary tools, a weapon and stolen items led to the arrest of Nicholas Flores, 21, of Alliance.
According to the Affidavit for Custody, on Jan. 18 at 11:34 p.m., an officer with the Alliance Police Department observed a male, later identified as Nicholas Flores, walking with two other individuals in the E Row of Meadows. The officer attempted to speak with the group, but Flores refused, walking away carrying a black bag.
The officer spoke with the other two individuals in a consensual field interview, and observed Flores enter an alleyway. Later, the officer saw Flores leave the alley, but noticed he was no longer carrying the black bag.
After talking with the individuals, the officer went into the alley, where he located the abandoned bag. The officer proceeded to search the bag, finding items with Flores’ name on them.
Also inside the bag, the officer located, “a black balaclava, crowbar, screwdriver, and other items consistent with burglar’s tools.” The officer found a large, fixed-blade knife, with a blade longer than 3.5 inches concealed in the bag.
Upon searching the bag further, the officer found “numerous bank cards with other individual’s names as the card holder as well as used and unused checks.” He observed that one of the checks was signed as the individual’s name in the amount of $400.00.
A bank bag filled with 12 used checkbooks were also found inside the abandoned black bag.
Flores was taken into custody on an arrest warrant. Officers made contact with one of the individuals whose name was found on the checkbooks. The person advised the officers that the checkbooks were taken from his property in a burglary.
According to the document, Flores was read his Miranda Rights and interviewed about the property. Flores allegedly claimed some of the property found in the bag, and admitted to forging the signature on the $400.00 check. He also allegedly admitted to assisting another individual in a plan to burglarize another residence on Dec. 30.
He said used checkbooks were taken in the burglary, in addition to a “gun safe full of CDs,” which has not been located yet.
Flores is charged with burglary, a class 2A felony, possession of burglar’s tools, a class 4 felony, possession of a deadly weapon to commit a felony, a class 3 felony, criminal possession of a financial transaction device, a class 4 felony, and carrying a concealed weapon, a class 1 misdemeanor.
He is set to appear in Box Butte County Court later this month. If he is found guilty of the charges, Flores faces up to 20 years in prison on the burglary charge, 2 years in prison on the charges of possessing burglar’s tools and financial transaction devices, and up to four years in prison on the charge of possessing a deadly weapon.