Man suspected of armed robberies in ABQ area
Suspect arrested after standoff with police
Authorities allege a man robbed as many as 20 businesses — mainly auto parts stores — over the past few months across the Albuquerque area.
Eric Ray Herrera, 39, is charged with two counts of armed robbery in a May 16 and June 9 incident. Detectives suspect he may have committed 14 other robberies that are “still under investigation,” according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.
Gilbert Gallegos, an Albuquerque Police Department spokesman, said Herrera may be involved in as many as 20 armed robberies in Albuquerque and parts of Bernalillo County. Herrera was arrested on June 9 after a standoff with police following a robbery at a Maverik gas station.
Police said Herrera told them he didn’t recall committing any robberies but uses methamphetamine and “blacks out when he uses meth.” On
Wednesday, a state District Court judge granted a motion to detain Herrera until trial. Herrera was sentenced in 2006 to five years in prison followed by five years of probation after pleading guilty to several counts of armed robbery. Less than three months after his release in 2013, his probation was revoked after he beat his girlfriend, quit his job as a dishwasher and smoked cannabis and drank beer, according to court records.
“It appears that Herrera is his own worst enemy,” a probation officer wrote in a violation report, noting that Herrera neglected to use his strong support system. He was sent back to prison for a seven-year sentence.
On May 16, officers responded around 9 p.m. to a robbery at the O’Reilly Auto Parts store near Wyoming and Menaul NE. Employees told police a man walked in with a gun and robbed the store of $180. The suspect picked up a can of WD-40 during the robbery and left it at the store, according to police. A fingerprint left on the can of lubricant came back as a match to Herrera.
Then, on June 9, police said they responded to an armed robbery at the Maverik gas station on Unser NW, near Interstate 40. Detectives recognized the suspect description as matching Herrera’s, whom they were investigating for a “series of armed robberies” in the Albuquerque area.
Detectives found Herrera sitting in a vehicle outside his mother’s house on the West Side, according to the complaint. Herrera went inside the home and refused to come out as police surrounded the home.
Police said Herrera eventually surrendered after a standoff with the SWAT team. Inside the home officers allegedly found the clothing and gun used in the gas station robbery.