WEST LEBANON – The Department of Homeland Security is seeking to deport a man following an alleged residential burglary on South Main Street.
A second suspect involved in the incident remains at large.
Jose Gonzalez Rojas, a 25-year-old citizen of Colombia with a Woodside, New York, address, is currently incarcerated in Grafton County Jail in North Haverhill, court records show.
On Sunday at around 7 p.m., officers with the Lebanon Police Department responded to a burglary in progress at a South Main Street residence, where the homeowner reported that two individuals were caught on a home surveillance camera attempting to gain entry through a rear door, police stated in a news release on Tuesday.
As officers approached the sounds of glass breaking at the rear of the residence, they observed two individuals, one wearing gray sweatpants and a gray sweatshirt and the other, later identified as Gonzalez Rojas, wearing all black, according to an arrest affidavit.
Both individuals then attempted to flee north away from the house.
During a foot pursuit of the two individuals, Cpl. Eric Hunter drew his Taser after the individuals ignored his verbal commands to stop.
Hunter was able to incapacitate Gonzalez Rojas with three taser prongs, but the second individual fled the area.
With Gonzalez Rojas secured in the back of a police cruiser, subsequent police investigation found “a small safe in the backyard and near the safe were two large screwdrivers,” the affidavit stated.
Inside the house, police discovered an upstairs bedroom closet with a broken latch, and it appeared that access had been gained, according to the affidavit.
A rear window on the ground floor of the residence was broken, according to police. Near the window, “was an exterior door that had a small section of the window broken in such a way that would enable a hand to reach through and open the door from the inside,” according to the affidavit.
The homeowner told police that he “commonly keeps cash in a safe in the bedroom and confirmed that the closet would have been secured by a fingerprint style padlock,” the affidavit stated.
Near the safe in the backyard, which showed damage from apparent attempts to pry it open, police located a pillowcase.
A later search of this pillowcase determined it contained stolen property from the residence: $21,699 in cash. The homeowner told police that the safe contained an additional $20,000, “though it was damaged and unable to be opened at the time,” according to the affidavit.
Processed at the Lebanon Police Department, police read Gonzalez Rojas his Miranda Rights “via a language line as he spoke Spanish,” and he “invoked his rights,” the affidavit stated.
“Jose requested the services of a bail commissioner and Bail Commissioner Vicki Sousa arrived and held Jose on preventative detention,” the affidavit added.
Following his arrest in West Lebanon, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security placed an immigration detainer on Gonzalez Rojas, which is a notice to law enforcement that DHS intends to assume custody of an individual because there is probable cause that they are subject to removal from the United States.
DHS also filed a “warrant for arrest of alien,” determining “that there is probable cause to believe that [Gonzalez Rojas] is removable from the United States” based on “the pendency of ongoing removal proceedings against the subject,” according to the warrant.
Probable cause for the DHS warrant also cites “biometric confirmation of the subject’s identity and a records check of federal databases that affirmatively indicate, by themselves or in addition to other reliable information, that the subject either lacks immigration status or notwithstanding such status is removable under U.S. immigration law.”
On Monday, Lebanon District Court Judge Michael Mace ordered Gonzales Rojas to remain detained in Grafton County Jail in North Haverhill following his arraignment and bail hearing.
Gonzalez Rojas, who court records show needed “a translator for Spanish” and is being represented by the Grafton County Public Defender Office, entered no plea to one felony count of burglary and not guilty to misdemeanors of criminal mischief, criminal trespass and resisting arrest.
“Any decisions concerning the [immigration] detainer or subsequent federal immigration proceedings are the responsibility of DHS,” Lebanon Police Chief Phillip Roberts stated in an email to the Valley News.
The Lebanon Police Department’s role, Roberts explained, is to investigate criminal offenses occurring within its jurisdiction and “pursue the appropriate charges through the New Hampshire court system.”
Roberts added that his department is not directly involved in coordination with federal authorities as it relates to Gonzalez Rojas’ immigration detainer.
“Our focus remains on the criminal investigation and prosecution of the state charges stemming from this incident,” he said. “As of right now he is being held on preventive detention on our state charges.”
The investigation into the second suspect remains ongoing.
“[That] individual has not yet been apprehended,” Roberts said. “This remains an active and ongoing investigation, and we have no further information to release at this time.”
The Department of Homeland Security, in a statement to the Valley News, said that Gonzalez Rojas “illegally entered the United States in March 2022 by crossing our southern border and was arrested by [U.S. Customs and Border Protection].”
“Under the Biden Administration, he was RELEASED into the country, completely unvetted,” DHS wrote.
“Jose David Gonzalez Rojas [is] a criminal illegal alien from Colombia with arrests for robbery and unauthorized use of vehicle without owner consent,” DHS stated. “In January 2026, ICE lodged an initial detainer against Gonzalez Rojas with New York City who DECLINED to honor it, releasing him back into the community to reoffend.”
“We are urging Grafton County authorities to learn from Sanctuary New York City’s mistakes and honor ICE’s detainer against this criminal illegal alien to prevent him from harming any more Americans,” DHS added.
About 71% of people held in ICE detention nationally have no criminal conviction, according to data compiled by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.
DHS has disputed that picture, saying in a July 2026 news release that nearly 70% of people ICE arrests have been charged with or convicted of a crime in the U.S. A 2020 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, using Texas arrest records, found U.S.-born citizens were more than twice as likely as immigrants in the country illegally to be arrested for violent felonies.
Reached by phone, Grafton County Department of Corrections Superintendent Tim Lethbridge declined to comment on “any particular inmate that may be transferred to another authority because there’s officer safety and security implications.”
Lethbridge did, however, discuss the Department of Corrections’ policy in general.
Regarding cooperation with other law enforcement entities, he explained that the Anti-Sanctuary Act, which took effect this year, requires enforcement agencies to comply with immigration detainers for someone being held in jail.
“Our policy is written to comply with that statute without exceeding the requirements of that statute,” Lethbridge said.
Local charges, he added, must be resolved before another agency’s hold comes into effect.
Gonzalez Rojas is scheduled for a probable cause hearing on Monday at 1 p.m. in Lebanon District Court.
