ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A New Mexico man who was shot and wounded during a business break-in in Albuquerque over the weekend is no stranger to law enforcement. KRQE News 13 obtained video of a burglary from six months ago, where investigators said he targeted an apartment complex, and now, for the first time, KRQE News 13 is seeing how police connected him to both crimes.
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Albuquerque police said it wasn’t a one-time crime. They said video shows 37-year-old Joseph Montoya and an accomplice breaking into the Cibola Village apartments on August 7, then hours later, targeting the Albuquerque Housing Authority. Surveillance footage shows the suspects using a crowbar to pry open the office door, successfully stealing a Bluetooth speaker, light bulbs, and the personal information of six tenants.
But what happened next made the police’s job easy. The stolen speaker showed up for sale on Facebook Marketplace, listed under Montoya’s full name. The man seen in the break-in was wearing a green sports jersey, which police said is the same green jersey he’s seen wearing on his Facebook page. Despite facing multiple burglary charges, that case was later dropped due to a lack of witnesses.
Then, just last weekend, Montoya was back in trouble. He showed up at a hospital with a gunshot wound, claiming he was accidentally shot. Police said he was actually caught up in another burglary, this time at the Cardboard Collectors shop near Lomas Blvd. and Washington St., where thousands of dollars in Pokémon and other trading cards were stolen. According to court documents, he returned to the store with another man an hour later to steal more, and that’s when a neighboring business owner confronted them. Saying he feared for his life, the man fired a shot, hitting Montoya in the stomach…