This article was updated on 30 March 2025 to include the name, photo, and crminal history of the suspect in this case.
On Sunday afternoon, we were provided with information about the suspect in this case and obtained a copy of his ID photo from public records.
According to ElPasoCounty.com, Carreto has only one prior, two counts of HARASSMENT OF PUBLIC SERVANT, a third-degree felony.
Carreto is currently in the El Paso County Detention Facility with a $2,000,000 bond.
29 March 2025, El Paso, Texas, Steven Zimmerman – At 2051 HRS, on 28 March 2025, a call was made to 911 in El Paso, Texas. The call, made by a customer of the Lava Rock Smoke Shop at 9155 Dyer, reported a large amount of blood within the shop.
When speaking to the 911 operator, the caller said that she believed that a homeless man with one eye may have had something to do with the scene found inside the shop. The caller and the police were still unaware of the extent of the carnage they would find.
When police arrived at the scene, they were met with large amounts of blood and marks indicating someone was dragged. In the back of the shop, they found a woman, unconscious, clinging to life. This woman had been beaten, choked, sexually assaulted, and left for dead.
As I write this, the suspect is still at large. Crimes Against Persons (CAP) believe they know the suspect’s name after an interview with someone close to the suspect.
With how the caller initially reported the crime, police units were looking for a man with one eye. Patrol units had to rely upon the caller as CAP had yet to arrive and retrieve video footage of the incident.
Time was wasted, and that was not the fault of the El Paso Police Department (EPPD).
Once CAP could view the scene’s video footage, they learned what had happened and had an explicit video of the suspect in this case. Shortly after that, EPPD issued a Be On The Look Out (BOLO) for the suspect. The BOLO was shared internally and was not for public release.
At 1157 HRS, an officer requested the presence of a Public Information Officer (PIO). The PIO officially releases statements to the media.
Sgt. Robert C Gomez is reported as saying that they, the PIOs, no longer come out to this kind of crime.
The El Paso Police Department has a hard enough job. In this case, when looking for a violent, dangerous suspect who is wanted for aggravated assault and sexual assault, it becomes a priority of EPPD to apprehend that subject as quickly as possible.
The PIO, Robert Gomez, could have described the suspect to the media, who could have shared it with the general public. Without a PIO, local media is left to take what officers say and use that. An example would be the report by KTSM, which said, “El Paso Police investigate ‘subject disturbance’ in Northeast El Paso.“
What changed within EPPD? Why are the PIOs no longer answering media questions for significant cases?
El Paso Police Chief Peter Pacillas, or City Manager Dionne Mack, maybe even both thought it would be an excellent idea for the Public Information Office to be run by former KTSM reporter Stephanie Shields. This would effectively remove the PIOs, the Department’s greatest asset, from the equation.
When Robert Gomez was told that the media wanted a statement, and the media was hanging around, all Gomez said was that the media could be where the public could be, so just expand the crime scene.
I spoke with one of the officers, who told me they could not expand the crime scene as they were short-staffed. To secure the scene at the bare minimum, the Northeast Regional Command had to borrow officers from Central.
There are a couple of takeaways from how the Department handled this matter, and we will address those now.
First, Crimes Against Persons has been working steadily, without the help of the public or media, to solve this case. Could they have identified the suspect sooner if the BOLO had been made public? Most likely, but that failure is not on them.
Next is the matter of boots on the ground. When a call like this comes in, patrol responds. When the crime scene needs to be locked down, that is the job of patrol, which is woefully understaffed.
When I write articles like this, I receive comments from people saying they no longer call the police because they never arrive or that the police don’t care. While the former happens far too often, the latter is not always the case.
Patrol officers work hard to clear calls. At times, upwards of twenty or thirty calls are pending, and very few patrol officers work to clear those calls. Keep in mind that only patrol responds to 911 and non-emergency calls.
In an article entitled Brass Comes First, Citizens Come Last I quoted an officer as saying the following:
“The most important thing the community needs to understand is that calls are not answered because the City of El Paso has turned its backs on the people to keep numbers up,” says an Officer with the El Paso Police Department. “When we [Police Officers] clear thirty or forty calls, because we do our best to clear them, it shows the City that we can do more with fewer officers on the street.”
The failing here is not on the officers but on Command for not ensuring enough officers in patrol divisions to handle the number of calls.
So, while the patrol was waiting for the arrival of Detectives from Crimes Against Persons, they listened to the caller, locked down the crime scene, and searched for a suspect.
The final failing, and a significant failing in this case, is Sgt. Robert Gomez and the Department’s decision that the Public Information Officers will no longer respond to cases such as this one.
What the suspect did in this case, what he did to that woman, was the act of a violent man who should not be on the streets. We need, both as media and the public, to know when someone with such disregard for life is walking among us. This is nothing short of a dereliction of duty by Sgt Robert Gomez, El Paso Police Chief Peter Pacillas, the Public Relations Specialist Stephanie Shields, and the City Manager Dionne Mack.
While we are thankful for the work of the patrolmen and women and the Detectives who are working this case as quickly as they are, we can only say that Pacillas, Shields, and Dionne Mack need to do better for the citizens they serve.
To Contact Cheif Pacillas [email protected]
To Contact Shields [email protected]
To Contact Dionne Mack [email protected]
To Contact Sgt Gomez [email protected] [email protected]
You can reach me at [email protected]
