ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Multiple suspects have been arrested after police say they stole more than $200,000 worth of adaptive wheelchairs and equipment from a local nonprofit. Police say in March, 39-year-old James Lucero and 37-year-old Abel Baca Jr. drove off with a trailer containing specialized equipment from the Carrie Tingley Hospital Foundation.
Video shows a group of men cutting locks to get into the foundation’s storage facility. Then, they attach the trailer to their truck and drive off.
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According to court documents, five days after the heist, Albuquerque Metal Recycling reached out to APD about a woman who tried to sell off 10 specialized wheelchairs and two men were in the car waiting. The criminal complaint says that when staff at the recycling facility started to get suspicious, 35-year-old Jessica Chavez and two men inside the truck drove off. But Chavez left her ID behind, connecting her to the crime.
Lucero will remain in custody pending trial, and Abel Baca Jr. is expected to appear in court on Tuesday…