A 32-year-old Santa Fe man showed up at a meeting with his probation officer Tuesday wearing a Rolex watch that had been stolen two days earlier during a home-invasion robbery on the city's south side, police said.

Victor Lopez told police a friend had brought the watch to his house and left it there, Deputy Police Chief Aric Wheeler said.

Officers arrested Lopez on a probation violation for possessing stolen property and booked him into the Santa Fe County jail. Wheeler said he could face other charges if the victim identifies Lopez as one of three men who broke into his home Sunday night.

Lopez's probation officer became suspicious when he noticed Lopez wearing the watch — valued at $2,500 — during their regular meeting, so he called police, Wheeler said. Police went to the Probation and Parole Department and determined from markings on the watch that it was the same one stolen Sunday, Wheeler said.

The 61-year-old victim told police he was watching a baseball game about 9:15 p.m. in his home when he heard a banging on the front door. When he went to the door, he saw some men standing there motioning for him to open it, police have said.

When the resident instead dialed 911, one of the men picked up a metal patio chair and threw it through the glass front door, then forced their way inside. The intruders showed no weapons and never threatened the resident, but they ransacked his bedroom and stole the watch along with the headset to a cordless phone that one of them snatched out of the resident's hand.

Wheeler said he didn't know if Lopez fit the description of any of the three men. The supposed leader of the group was described as 5-foot-6,
180 pounds with dark, medium-length hair and numerous tattoos on his neck and arms and another was described as
5-foot-6 and 125 pounds. The third man's description was similar to that of the supposed leader only taller, police have said.

Lopez is 5-foot-10, 160 pounds with black hair, according to the Santa Fe County jail Web site, which usually posts a picture of inmates but did not have Lopez's image posted Wednesday.

Wheeler said he expected the victim of the home invasion to look at a photo lineup this morning.

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