Suspect not worried, says DOC too full

Jason Pedro, the man charged last month in the theft of a $30,000 skid-steer from Mayor David Berrong’s rental business, is now facing a new charge of grand larceny. Also pending against him are felony charges of possessing a firearm after former felony conviction and unauthorized use of a vehicle.
The latest offense – grand larceny – allegedly occurred Feb. 26. It involved the theft of a 29-foot gooseneck trailer belonging to the Cheyenne-Arapaho Housing Authority.
Capt. Jeff Maynard, an investigator for the Custer County Sheriff’s Office, wrote in an affidavit of probable cause that the housing authority reported the $7,000 trailer stolen Feb. 26. He said Orville Whiteskunk of the authority also showed him a video of Pedro hooking the trailer up to a single-cab truck with a sticker on it showing it to be property of the Cheyenne-Arapaho tribes.
The trailer was recovered at 1758 Neptune Dr. The grandson of an older couple who had lived near where the trailer was stolen picked Pedro out of a photo lineup as someone he had seen hooking up to the trailer. He said one way he could tell it was him was a tattoo on his right jaw.
Pedro was arrested at 11:53 p.m. on outstanding warrants. Allegedly, the truck he was hooking the trailer up to was stolen as well, and it too was recovered.
Pedro admitted as much in an interview at the jail, said Maynard.
As he was being led back to his cell following the interview, the deputy said he yelled, “I don’t give a (expletive). What are you going to do? Send me to prison for a nonviolent charge? The DOC (Department of Corrections) is too full now.”
Maynard said he went back to his cell cussing both him and Detective Lt. Luis De La Torre of the Clinton Police Department, who was helping with the book-in.
Another Clinton resident, Ricky Mendez, was arrested recently on charges of domestic assault and battery by strangulation and assault, battery, or assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
Officer Jeff Robbins of the Clinton P.D. wrote the affidavit in that case. He said he was dispatched at 12:06 a.m. on March 13 to 1305 Avant Ave. for a domestic assault in progress. When he arrived, he met with Cheryl Mendez who told him her husband had accused her of sleeping with his relatives and had tried to strangle her with a leather belt. He also allegedly threatened her with a kitchen knife and a saw blade.
She said at one point he chased her out of their residence, threatening to kill her, and had placed a long piece of metal trim against the back of her neck to hold her head down on a table. Robbins said he could see scratches on her neck and throat.
Mendez locked himself in the house, said the officer, and refused to open the door. Robbins said he forced the door open and arrested the suspect. After entering, he said he could see a large kitchen knife with a black handle and a saw blade setting on a table next to a recliner in which the accused was sitting.
Behind the front door, the officer said he could see a piece of metal trim, and on the floor of a nearby bedroom a brown leather belt. Mrs. Mendez said they were the ones her husband had used against her.
He was arrested and taken to jail, and his bond has been set at $50,000.