Law enforcement officers hope two arrests this week might help bring down the number of burglaries in the Santa Fe area, which have increased recently with the temperature.

Officers arrested the first man Monday after a housesitter found him and an alleged female accomplice inside an Eldorado home with jewelry in their hands.

Joaquin Perea, 29, is a "serial burglar," said Lt. Ken Johnson, head of investigation for the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department. "That's well documented."

Perea and the woman were arrested Monday after the housesitter got their license plate number and a deputy caught them returning to Santa Fe on Interstate 25. Jewelry and jewelry boxes were found in the car, as well as receipt from a local pawn shop indicating that the female suspect — 21-year-old Jessica Ortiz — had sold $300 worth of jewelry on June 12, according to a police report.

Johnson said detectives are trying to determine if all the jewelry in the car came from the Eldorado home or whether some might be from other burglaries. Perea asked for a lawyer when detectives tried to talk to him and hasn't discussed any other burglaries, Johnson said.

Perea's criminal history includes numerous charges of burglary, auto burglary, credit card fraud and theft, according to online court records. A grand jury on May 28 indicted him on charges of burglary, larceny and two counts of credit card fraud in connection with an incident that occurred Feb. 25 in La Cienega, according to Johnson and court records. Perea failed to show up for an arraignment in that case and a judge issued a bench warrant June 1, the records show.

"We believe that since he's been out (of jail) on that case he's been out committing other burglaries," Johnson said.

The other man charged this week was Alex Sosaya, 30, who was arrested Wednesday, said Capt. Gary Johnson, head of investigations for the city police department.

On June 9, a city police officer saw a truck that had been reported stolen near West Manhattan Avenue, he said. The officer got behind the truck and followed it down Amado Street, which is a dead-end.

At the end of the street, the officer began to approach the truck on foot when the driver put it in reverse, gunned the engine and jumped out, said Gary Johnson. The driver escaped on foot and the officer was not hurt.

The officer found a wallet in the truck that contained Sosaya's driver's license, and she was able to identify him as the driver, Gary Johnson said. He said officers tracked Sosaya to a home Wednesday and arrested him.

Sosaya was wanted by Sandoval County authorities on a charge of absconding from probation. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1999 for armed robbery and kidnapping, and had been on probation since November 2006, according to Gary Johnson and court records. Those charges related to an armed robbery spree of businesses in Albuquerque when Sosaya and another man kidnapped a man and his sister and beat them in an effort to make the sister withdraw money from an ATM.

In Santa Fe, he was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, receiving stolen property, receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle and aggravated fleeing from police.

Johnson said police believe Sosaya might be linked to a car-theft ring. Both Sosaya and Perea are heroin addicts, he said.

Ken Johnson said the burglary rate in the county has increased since the weather warmed and school let out. Gary Johnson said the burglary rate in the city also has been rising lately.

Contact Jason Auslander at 986-3076 or :jauslander@sfnewmexican.com.