HOME INVADERS POSE AS FEDERAL DRUG AGENTS

Suspects Targeted Couple's Marijuana Plants, Police
Say.

Police are investigating a reported drug-related home invasion where
armed masked men posing as federal drug agents raided a South Side
home and assaulted a married couple early Thursday.

Sgt. Eric Bravo of the Pueblo Police Department said detectives late
Thursday arrested 28-year-old Steven Davis in connection to the crime.

Bravo said Davis and two other unidentified men are believed to be
responsible for the 1:48 a.m. incident at James Otero's home at 2851
Aster St.

Thursday's home invasion took place a month after a homeowner in the
3100 block of Aster shot and killed an intruder in a reported drug
robbery.

Otero, 28, suffered serious bodily injuries in the attack, which was
aimed at Otero's medical marijuana growth operation, Bravo said.

Otero and his wife, Marquita Valdez, 25, were home watching
television when three masked suspects armed with handguns broke
through the front door.

Cpl. Jason Heflin's report said the suspects wore beanies emblazoned
with "DEA" and had bandanas over their faces.

Heflin said Otero fought the three suspects throughout the
house.

The fight spilled from the front room into a bedroom where Otero's
dogs began attacking him rather than the suspects.

Otero managed to wrestle a gun away from one of the suspects and
chased the assailants from the home. Otero fired several shots at the
suspects who sped away in a sport utility vehicle that was parked in
the middle of the street, Heflin said.

Suspects also assaulted and tried choking Valdez during the
incident.

A 10-month-old baby was also home at the time and was unharmed during
the incident.

Otero was taken in a private car to St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center to
be treated for facial wounds and puncture wounds to his legs, Heflin
said.

The couple are medical marijuana applicants and had several pot
plants of various growth in the home. The number of plants in the
home was not available late Thursday.

What led police to Davis was that during the incident, one of the
suspects was unmasked and identified as Davis, who is dating Valdez's
sister.

"He was familiar with the fact they had a marijuana grow," Bravo
said.

Davis was arrested on a warrant for first-degree burglary. He was
found at Valdez's sister's apartment in the 2700 block of Sprague
Avenue.

During the daytime Thursday, investigators spent a majority of the
day photographing the home and inspecting the marijuana plants. Bravo
said that because the couple are medical marijuana applicants, the
plants were not confiscated.

About 20 yellow evidence placards dotted the couple's front yard and
neighboring yard Thursday.

Bravo said Otero fired at least four shots at the suspects as they
fled.