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December 13, 2006

A man who reportedly told people he was a security officer was arrested Sunday for violating his parole.

Leonard Anthony Lucero, 28, of the 2200 block of East 14th Street, was found hiding in the back room of a South Side house, according to a report by police officer Nick Martinez.

Police had been called to the 800 block of Jackson Street about 6:30 p.m. Sunday to look for a Hispanic male going door to door and asking for money. The caller told police the man said he was a security officer.

Police later found Lucero in the back room of a house on Claremont Avenue. In the room, police also found a can of pepper spray, a leather duty belt like those worn by police and security officers and a long black flashlight.

Lucero, whose clothes matched those of the man described by the caller, said he wasn't impersonating a security officer. Instead, he said he was visiting a friend at an unknown address nearby.

Another witness told police that he was in his basement when the doorbell rang. He didn't see anyone at the door and went to the back yard, only to hear someone walking around the house. There the witness startled Lucero, he said, and Lucero said he needed money for gas and was a security officer.

The witness didn't give him any money, so Lucero left. After that, the witness told the police officer that he saw Lucero ring the doorbells of other houses and avoid those where someone was home. He said he thought Lucero was casing homes to burglarize.

Lucero was arrested on suspicion of a parole violation and remained in Pueblo County jail without chance for bail pending a court hearing.

By JAMES AMOS and GAYLE PEREZ
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

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