Three arrested in two stolen vehicles
Suspect in first car released from jail just hour earlier
New Mexico State Police officers arrested three people, including one who had been released from jail hours earlier, in stolen vehicles during two separate incidents in Albuquerque on Wednesday, according to department news releases.
The first case started around 8 a.m. when police say they spotted a stolen vehicle near Menaul and University NE. The driver, later identified as Jeremy Pitts, 28, saw the police cruiser and fled, according to Sgt. Elizabeth Armijo, a NMSP spokeswoman.
“The officer began to follow the vehicle, then observed the vehicle, a GMC Sierra pickup, crash into a fence near Prospect and Commercial streets,” Armijo wrote in a news release. “Pitts then fled on foot and entered a tire shop near the location, where he was pointed out by employees to officers.”
Pitts was taken into custody and charged with possession of a stolen vehicle and fleeing or evading an officer.
When he was arrested, Pitts told officers he had been released from jail around 4 a.m., about two hours before the vehicle was reportedly stolen. According to online court records, he had been released on his own recognizance after being charged with a February burglary.
The second case began later that night, around 8 p.m., when Armijo said a silver Mazda sped past a State Police officer on patrol on Interstate 40. She said the car was swerving and drove through a construction zone, almost hitting several workers.
Armijo said the officer tried to stop the vehicle, but the driver, later identified as Anthony Sisneros, 30, fled. The car was later determined to be stolen.
“While fleeing from police, Sisneros exited onto Rio Grande Boulevard and encountered a red light,” Armijo wrote in the release. “Sisneros struck three vehicles stopped at the light attempting to evade police.”
She said Sisneros rammed a Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office cruiser before a State Police officer stopped him with a pursuit intervention technique. Both Sisneros and his passenger, Alicia Ana Lara, 30, were taken into custody and charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of a controlled substance, and aggravated battery on a peace officer.