Carjacking on Cerrillos Road has semi-happy ending

A local man was driving down Cerrillos Road on Friday afternoon when his 2000 Hyundai Sonata began making a strange noise.

He had recently had the power steering pump fixed, but it had still been acting up. By the time the driver was passing Smith’s supermarket headed south, he could barely turn the steering wheel. He managed to pull the car over on Harrison Road and got out to pop the hood.

That’s when the robber approached, the driver told police.

According to a police report, a tall young man, probably between 25 and 28 years old, approached the Hyundai’s driver and asked if he needed a hand.

“I don’t need any help, but thanks,” the driver said,

according to the police report.

The suspect brandished a handgun, demanded the keys to the car, and fired a round into the dirt, the victim told police. He then drove off with the Hyundai, the man’s cellphone, wallet and $3,000 cash the Hyundai driver told police he was taking to the bank, according to the report.

The carjacking was the first handled by Santa Fe police this year, though the department has responded to 20 car thefts in just the first 22 days of 2018, police spokesman Greg Gurulé said on Monday.

In 2017, Santa Fe experienced 228 reported auto thefts, Gurulé said, which was almost identical to the number in 2016.

Vehicle theft is a major problem in New Mexico — particularly in Albuquerque, where more than 10,000 vehicles were reported stolen in 2016, according to a report from the National Insurance Crime Bureau. In that year, the state topped the nation in that dubious category. California was No. 2. The FBI crime data for 2017 has not yet been published.

Gurulé provided these suggestions to keep thieves away:

People who warm up their car outdoors in the colder weather should lock their doors, rather than leave the car vulnerable.

Driver should consider purchasing steering wheel locks.

The case of the stolen Hyundai did have a semihappy ending, however. The vehicle was recovered 27 hours after it was stolen, police documents show.

According to a police report, someone called in a parking complaint about the Hyundai parked on a residential street about a mile away. Neighbors told police that the car had been there for about a day, the report said, but nobody saw who left it there.

The victim’s wallet and cellphone were gone, police said.

The only items left behind? An uneaten Subway sandwich and some chips.