Police: Key used in Block break-in
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Report rules out hate crime in incident, lists case closed
9/29/2008 - 9/30/08
Whoever might have broken into Jerome Block Jr.'s home in La Puebla entered the front door using a key hidden under a mat, wrote a racial slur using a green crayon and left behind no apparent fingerprints after rifling through the Public Regulation Commission candidate's desk.That's according to a state police report released Monday that listed the case as closed and said "no hate/bias" motivation was apparent.
In the two-page report, Officer Rafael Gomez said he responded about 11 a.m. Thursday to the home on El Sitio Road and asked Block if anything was stolen. "No. If they did, it was bank statements," Block said, although the report later says Block wasn't sure if anything was stolen.
Block showed Gomez to his office, where papers were scattered across Block's desk and the word liar and a derogatory term for Hispanics were written on the office wall in crayon.
"Due to the amount of scattered papers, I was unable to determine what papers were touched, therefore the papers were not collected for fingerprints," Officer Gomez wrote. "There was also a gray 'laptop' on the desk, which Mr. Block stated was as he left it. I used my flashlight to cast a shadow over the 'laptop' to see if there were any fingerprints. I didn't locate any fingerprints on the 'laptop.' "
In capping the report, Gomez wrote, "Based on my investigation and due to no evidence, suspects or witnesses, this case is closed. Upon any further information received, a supplemental report will follow."
State police spokesman Peter Olson said he was "not exactly sure" why police ruled out the break-in and graffiti as a hate crime. But generally, he said, when it comes to state law, "You have to be pretty specific about what a hate crime is."
Last Thursday, Block's spokesman, Jonathan Valdez, told The New Mexican that he had stopped by Block's home after having breakfast in Española. He said at the time that it appeared someone had gone through the family's personal files, and on Monday he said some of Block's nominating petitions he needed to get on the primary ballot last spring were stolen.
"Some of his personal finance stuff was stolen and some of the campaign materials, nominating petitions, signatures, that sort of stuff," Valdez said.
"To be completely honest, I don't know if any finance stuff from the campaign was stolen," he said.
Efforts to reach Block were unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, two state agencies have still made no decision on whether to investigate Block's admission that he lied about a $2,500 campaign expenditure. Block had long claimed that he gave the money to San Miguel County Clerk Paul Maez for Maez's band to perform at a rally, but the two changed their story last week after two band members said there was no such performance.
The admission has raised questions of whether Block broke state law under the Voter Action Act, but the Secretary of State's Office has yet to say whether it will ask the Attorney General's Office to investigate.
"There's still some preliminary things we need to be looking into, and that's just where we're at," James Flores, the Secretary of State Office spokesman, said Monday. "We just look at the facts and there's just certain documents we're going to be reviewing."
Block, 31, is facing 42-year-old Green Party member Rick Lass in the November election. No Republican is running. The League of Women Voters is holding forums Wednesday in Los Alamos and Sunday in Santa Fe, but only Lass has said he will appear.
KNME-TV Channel 5 recently approached both candidates to attend a televised forum for the show In Focus that would air Oct. 10 or 17. Lass said he has agreed to appear, but a show producer, Kevin McDonald, said Monday that Block at first sounded opposed to appearing.
"Is this the radio station that visited my mother's house without my consent?" Block asked, according to McDonald.
Told the radio station had no connection to KNME, Block said he might consider showing up for the taping, according to McDonald.
Block so far has agreed to attend a single forum with Lass, Oct. 21 in Santa Fe. The event is being sponsored by the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce and Association for Commerce and Industry.
Contact Doug Mattson at 986-3087 or dmattson@sfnewmexican.com.
