Escorted by a Corrections officer, Joaquin Deleon Guerrero Jr., was remanded to custody after a bail hearing on Tuesday.
JOAQUIN Deleon Guerrero Jr., identified by police as a suspect in the theft of gasoline from a library vehicle, has been charged with illegal possession of a controlled substance.
Deleon Guerrero, 42, was escorted by Corrections officers to a bail hearing Tuesday before Superior Court Judge Joseph N. Camacho.
Assistant Attorney General Heather Barcinas informed the court that Deleon Guerrero also faces lesser charges of theft and tampering with a vehicle. Barcinas requested that the court maintain the $20,000 cash bail for his release.
Judge Camacho granted the prosecutor’s request, remanding Deleon Guerrero to the custody of the Department of Corrections. The judge ordered the defendant to return to court for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 17 and arraignment on Sept. 22 at 9 a.m.
The court will appoint legal counsel for Deleon Guerrero.
According to the complaint, police detectives were executing an arrest warrant for John Roman Lisua on Aug. 29 at his residence when Deleon Guerrero arrived in a silver Nissan Frontier pickup truck.
A detective who asked Deleon Guerrero for identification observed a Ziploc bag inside his orange Pelican case. The officer also noticed a clear container and a rolled-up hose in the truck bed, which matched the description from surveillance footage of the gas theft and vehicle tampering incident reported by Joeten Kiyu Public Library. Deleon Guerrero told police that Lisua had placed the container and hose in the truck bed.
When asked to exit the vehicle so police could take his photo, Deleon Guerrero reached into his left pocket and threw a clear plastic item to the ground, police said. Officers retrieved the item and found a glass pipe containing residue, which Deleon Guerrero admitted belonged to him.
Police field-tested the substance in the pipe, which returned a positive result for methamphetamine.
Lisua told detectives that Deleon Guerrero had come to pick him up for another “gas mission.” He said the three containers in the truck bed were used for stealing gas, which they would later exchange for methamphetamine. Lisua also said there was meth inside Deleon Guerrero’s orange Pelican case.
Detectives said Lisua admitted to three additional incidents involving gas theft and vehicle tampering.
Lisua, 40, was previously arrested and charged with theft and tampering with a government vehicle.
