Two men and a woman arrested last week may be responsible for at least 15 strong-armed robberies in Santa Fe, Española and Rio Rancho during the last few months, police said Monday.

And though no one was injured in any of the incidents, police were glad Monday to have the suspects off the streets because a gun was used in all or most of the robberies, according to Santa Fe Deputy Police Chief Aric Wheeler. Employees of two stores in Santa Fe that were robbed were left tied up in back rooms, he added.

"In (two of the Santa Fe robberies), they take the gun out and point it at people's heads," Wheeler said. "They were known drug addicts, and they were known to have a history of being violent with police officers."

In addition, the crew may have been responsible for three similar store holdups in Boulder, Colo., that occurred before August, said Española police Detective Christian Lopez.

Rio Rancho police — who were investigating five robberies at businesses in that city between Oct. 18 and Nov. 4 — provided the main break in the case, according to Lopez and a police report. Witnesses to those robberies had reported seeing the robber — described as a man in his 20s with short hair and long, "possibly manicured eyebrows" — leave the scenes in a silver or light-colored Volkswagen Jetta, according to a Rio Rancho police report.

The Rio Rancho businesses that were hit include Days Inn, Sally's Beauty Supply, Sal-E-Boys Pizza and The Dollar Store, the report says.

Two Rio Rancho detectives were checking out a silver Jetta parked in an apartment parking lot Nov. 14 when they spotted a man resembling the suspect walk to the Jetta, then back to an apartment. Not long after, the detectives began following the Jetta, which was driven by a woman who resembled someone who had been helping the man with the robberies, the report says.

The woman began to drive dangerously, so detectives pulled her over, impounded her car and took her to the Rio Rancho police station for an interview, the report states. Samantha Hayden, 23, of Rio Rancho admitted to detectives she had driven the vehicle while her boyfriend, Urbano Gutierrez, committed armed robberies in Rio Rancho, Española and Santa Fe, the report states.

"Ms. Hayden also said that during all the robberies that she had her infant son ... an eight-month-old, with her," the police report says.

Rio Rancho detectives interviewed Hayden for two hours before she told them Gutierrez was in the trunk of the Jetta police had just impounded, said Lopez, the Española detective. Gutierrez had crawled into the trunk and was eating an onion ring when police found him, Lopez said. The car had been sealed, and Gutierrez, 28, had been unable to get out, Lopez said.

John Francis, a Rio Rancho police spokesman, refused to confirm or deny the trunk story Monday, though he said both Gutierrez and Hayden were in the car when detectives pulled it over. The police report makes no mention of Gutierrez being in the car.

Hayden told detectives about another accomplice named "Adrian" who lived in Chimayó and had helped with some of the Santa Fe robberies, Lopez said. The detective said he immediately thought of Adrian Chavez, 27, a heroin addict and known thief who lives in that area. Police later found evidence at Chavez's home linking him to the Santa Fe robberies, he said.

They also found a pellet gun at the home of Gutierrez's cousin in Española that Española police believe was used in five robberies in or near that city since August, Lopez said.

Chavez was arrested and charged with armed robbery for his alleged role in a Nov. 10 robbery at Silver Dollar, 2010 Cerrillos Road, in Santa Fe, where two employees were left tied up in a back room. A man with a gun in that robbery pointed it at the head of one of the employees, Wheeler said.

Chavez, Gutierrez and Hayden also may have had a role in the robberies of Fast Bucks, 1432 Cerrillos Road, on Oct. 8, which involved two men, as well as another at New Mexico Title Loans, 2227 Cerrillos Road, on Oct. 12 and another at the Giant gas station, 1009 St. Francis Drive, on Halloween. The latter two involved just one man, Wheeler said. The clerk at Fast Bucks also was left tied up in a back room and had to bang on a wall to get someone to come help her, Wheeler said.

Police believe the crew was responsible for several robberies in the Española area, including the Pinch-A-Penny Laundromat in mid-August, a convenience store in northern Española in late October, Red's Lounge in early November, the Country Store in Sombrillo in early November and the Chevron station in Arroyo Seco about a week ago, Lopez said.

They may be responsible for an armed robbery in Albuquerque as well, he said.

So far, Gutierrez has been charged with five counts of armed robbery, five counts of conspiracy and five counts of child abuse in connection with the Rio Rancho robberies, according to court documents. Hayden was charged with five counts of armed robbery and five counts of child abuse in connection with the Rio Rancho incidents, documents state.

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