Daniel Borunda

El Paso Times

A Riverside High School cheerleader was arrested after allegedly claiming that a burglar had stolen her cheerleader uniforms from her home, court documents state.

El Paso police investigators arrested Gina Nicole Torrijos, 18, on Friday on a charge of making a false police report after allegedly claiming that her cheerleader uniforms had been stolen during a home burglary April 15, police officials said.

About 2 a.m. April 15, police responded to a burglary call by Torrijos, who claimed that someone had stolen two Riverside High School cheerleader uniforms from the bedroom dresser at her home in the 1700 block of Shawana Laurie Court near Montwood Drive in the far East Side, according to a complaint affidavit filed by police.

Riverside High is in the Ysleta Independent School District, which has open enrollment.

According to the complaint, Torrijos allegedly told police that she received several text messages from an anonymous number stating that her uniforms had been taken.

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Torrijos also allegedly told officers that "someone" had been in her backyard trying to remove the screen to her bedroom window when she received the texts and that the prowler was chased off by her boyfriend, who lost the person in the dark.

As part of the investigation, Pebble Hills Tactical Unit investigators spoke with several neighbors who all said that they did not see or hear anything unusual, the complaint states.

When interviewed by police, the Riverside cheer coach told an investigator that Torrijos had returned one of the uniforms to the school on April 15 after the alleged burglary, the complaint stated.

On April 21, Torrijos allegedly told police that she had lied about the burglary and provided a written confession that "stated that she made up the story of the Burglary of Habitation to cover the fact that she wanted to avoid turning in her cheer uniforms to the school," the complaint states.

The complaint states that Torrijos told police that she still had the missing uniform but later recanted and said that she could not find the uniform.

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Torrijos was arrested on suspicion of making a false report to a peace officer, which is a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine.

She was released from jail on a $5,000 bond on Friday.

Daniel Borunda may be reached at 546-6102; dborunda@elpasotimes.com; @BorundaDaniel on Twitter.