A former police officer was sentenced last week to 4 1/2 years in prison for his role in two arson fires in Tucumcari, New Mexico, last year, including a closed motel on Route 66, according to the Quay County Sun.
Dustin “Dusty” Lopez, the former officer, and co-defendant Robert Sandoval were sentenced for fires at the closed Payless Inn and an abandoned home, both in Tucumcari. Sandoval was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison.
A judge originally sentenced the two to 15 years in the state penitentiary, but a plea agreement capped the prison time to five years.
Lawrence Phillip, owner of the Payless Inn, said he and his wife bought the Payless Inn and Apache Hotel with the intention of moving to Tucumcari because they saw potential in the city. He said he spoke with Lopez to keep the property safe.
“Lopez told me that he would personally make sure nothing would happen to our property,” Phillip said. “It blew my mind when I later found out that Lopez was involved in the fire that destroyed the very building he promised to look after.”
Lopez and Sandoval both apologized in court for their actions.
The Payless Inn originally opened as the Sheraton Motor Inn in the late 1960s or early 1970s. It also was known as Taaj Hotels and Suites for a time.
A fire also destroyed the historic but long-abandoned Tucumcari Motel near downtown. Lopez and Sandoval were implicated in the investigation of that fire, which occurred two days after the Payless Inn fire, but the plea agreement doesn’t address that fire.
The Tucumcari Motel wasn’t on Route 66, but sat on old U.S. 54 and was believed to be on an Ozark Trail alignment.
no big loss. Tucumcari is becoming a ghost town. So Many people have left the motels they owned.