ABQ Times

The Albuquerque Police Department arrested two offenders overnight on auto theft charges, one involving a city-owned bait vehicle.

Shortly after midnight on September 18, a city-owned bait car was stolen in the Northeast Area Command. A man, later identified as Clifton Archie, 33, was identified by Auto Theft detectives through cameras inside the bait car. Archie is known to detectives due to his history of stealing vehicles.

Detectives attempted to make contact with Archie at Tennessee and Copper when he ran from the vehicle. With assistance from Valley, Northeast, and Southeast field officers as well as the K-9 Unit, Archie was arrested and charged with Unlawful Taking of a Motor Vehicle, Resisting/Evading, two felony warrants, and a misdemeanor warrant.

At around 8:00 p.m. on September 17, a Southeast Proactive Response Officer encountered a traffic accident where a car had flipped over on its side. The people inside the vehicle fled on foot and the officer pursued the male driver and took him into custody.

The vehicle was reported stolen and a gun was located on the floorboard. The driver, identified as Matthew Hunter, 40, was arrested for Receiving/Transferring a stolen vehicle, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, Leaving the Scene of an Accident, Eluding and Evading Police on Foot, as well as two felony warrants.

“I brought the bait car program to APD and will stand by it because it works,” said Chief Harold Medina. “So far this year, the program has prevented nearly 40 cars being stolen from people in our community because a bait car was taken instead, and it’s a contributing factor to our numbers decreasing nationally.”

Video from both arrests can be found here.

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