APD arrests three men charged with stealing liquor from convenience stores
ALBUQUERQUE – APD officers and detectives worked together to charge and arrest three men who are believed to be part of a group that has been stealing liquor and other merchandise from convenience stores in the Northeast Heights.
Several suspects were highlighted in a video shared last week through social media as they walked out of a Walgreens store with liquor.
Three people were arrested today. A fourth suspect, Oliver Manning, 43, has a warrant for his arrest.
Detectives with APD’s Organized Crime Unit were investigating the thefts when they were contacted today about two of the suspects, Nathan Castillo, 43, and Brian Singer, 35, who stole merchandise from the Walgreens located at 8011 Harper Dr., N.E. They traveled southbound on Wyoming and got into a bus/van. Detectives followed the van to the area of Wyoming and Marquette Ave., S.E., where they made contact with the two men. The men were arrested for stealing merchandise worth more than $300. The manager of the Walgreens positively identified the men and told police that Castillo was at the store the previous day, on July 10, and vandalized the plexiglass to steal alcohol valued at more than $1,400. The manager said Castillo has stolen merchandise in the past and has threatened violence against employees.
Detectives are charging Castillo under a new law that Mayor Keller supported that combines the value of stolen merchandise so the suspect can be charged with a felony, rather than separate misdemeanors.
Castillo is charged with shoplifting over $500, conspiracy to commit shoplifting over $500, and criminal damage to property under $1,000. He was booked into the Metro Detention Center.
Singer, who was seen in the video on social media last week, is charged with shoplifting over $250, but less than $500, compounding a crime.
As detectives were booking Castillo and Singer, offices in the Northeast Area Command responded to a report of a third individual who stole merchandise from the Albertsons.
Officers arrived and tracked Joshua Peralto, 26, to a nearby irrigation channel where they arrested him. He is charged for the theft at Albertsons. Peralto is also believed to be one of the individuals shown in the social media burglary at Walgreens last week.
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