Santa Fe, NM - Patrol Car Stolen from Santa FE County Sheriff's Office By Drunk - Patrol Car Used for Several Traffic Stops
Marked car stolen from S.F. County yard may have been used to pull over
motorists.
A marked Santa Fe County sheriff's patrol car that was stolen from a county
vehicle storage yard early today may have been used to pull over unsuspecting
motorists, law enforcement spokesmen told The New Mexican.
State Police received a call around 12:45 a.m. from a woman named Darlene
Moya who told them a man named Karl was pulling people over near Chimayo and
said she was really worried "because he was drunk," Department of Public Safety
spokesman Peter Olson told the paper.
"We're looking for Darlene Moya and anybody who had contact with (Karl)," Olson
said.
It was around 1:50 this morning that county officials discovered that two
cars, including the patrol unit that was being decommissioned, had gone missing
from the storage yard, a sheriff's office news release said.
One of the cars was apparently used to crash through the yard's gates and was
found totaled a few blocks from the yard, sheriff's Capt. Robert Riggs told The
New Mexican.
The patrol unit was found abandoned in the Chimayo area, Riggs told the
paper.
10:55am -- S.F. Sheriff's Dept. Car Stolen from County Yard: Marked patrol
car, another vehicle, taken around 1:50 this morning.
Two vehicles, including a marked Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office patrol car
being decommissioned, were stolen from the Santa Fe County Vehicle Storage Yard
around 1:50 a.m. today, according to a sheriff's office news release.
The patrol car was being stripped of emergency equipment while at the yard,
according to the release.
After the cars were stolen, someone was reported impersonating a sheriff's
officer and was conducting traffic stops in northern Santa Fe County, the
release said.
Both vehicles were recovered this morning and were being processed for evidence,
according to the release.
New Mexico State Police are investigating the thefts with the sheriff's office's
full cooperation.
Anyone who may have encountered the suspect or suspects is asked to call
sheriff's detective Michael Delgado at (505) 986-2400.