Now police are saying Katz, 17, is also responsible for at least one auto burglary six days after the jewelry store heist and are investigating whether he was involved in a pair of burglaries at the Nike factory outlet store in southwest Santa Fe, one of which also involved use of a hatchet. Two warrants for his arrest — one for armed robbery and one for burglary — have been issued.
Santa Fe police Sgt. Louis Carlos said Katz is the suspect in a Sept. 26 auto burglary in the 200 block of East Palace Avenue in which a purse and a $95,000 diamond ring were stolen. On Sept. 27, according to police reports, a woman went to Cathedral Park to buy unspecified drugs and was told to ask for a boy named Shalom. The woman gave him $100 and he said he would go get the drugs. As collateral to ensure he would return, the teen gave the woman a ring with a stone missing.
Police say the teen never returned so the woman pawned the ring at Pawn City, 3668 Cerrillos Road. Santa Fe police Sgt. Peter Neal recovered the ring and confirmed it was the one stolen on Sept. 26, but was missing a three-carat diamond.
At age 14, Katz pleaded no contest to aggravated burglary, two counts of armed robbery and conspiracy in connection with a December 2007 home invasion that left two victims severely injured after being beaten with a baseball bat.
Since being released from a treatment facility in Albuquerque where he was sentenced in 2008, police say Katz has violated his probation several times and was caught in March trying to shoplift a hatchet from Sears, 4250 Cerrillos Road.
Katz has been back in front of a state district judge at least four times since February and in each instance, his father, Asher Katz, has been by his son's side trying to work with him and law enforcement.
While Asher Katz said by telephone Thursday he had no comment on his son's current cases, Santa Fe police Sgt. Louis Carlos said the father has been helpful in the investigation.
Police have confirmed that Asher Katz has said he would like for his son to live in Israel, but they have no reason to believe the teen has left Santa Fe.
In the Sept. 20 jewelry store heist at Dell Fox, witnesses say a man dressed in dark clothing and a ninja-like black mask with an eye slit used a hatchet to shatter a display case and stole $4,000 of jewelry.
Based on that crime, police are also investigating whether Katz had any involvement in a pair of recent burglaries of the Nike Factory Store, 8380 Cerrillos Road.
In the Aug. 21 burglary, video surveillance shows a man using what appears to be a hatchet to break open the glass front door of the business before he and another man run inside, grab apparel and flee. The store was also hit Oct. 3 in a similar fashion.
Search warrants on two homes this week in connection with the Dell Fox robbery have netted cell phones, dark clothing, two hatchets and a black-hooded cloth, according to court documents. No jewelry has been recovered.
Police ask anyone with information on Katz's whereabouts to call 428-3710 or contact Det. Robert Vasquez directly at 955-5038.
SOURCE: Santa Fe New Mexico.com The New Mexican by Geoff Grammer
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