A woman suspected of swiping a purse and stealing the 79-year-old victim's vehicle was arrested after crashing the car.
Woman Suspected of Swiping Purse and Stealing Shopper’s Car
A Las Cruces woman suspected of swiping a purse from a shopping cart and stealing the 79-year-old victim’s vehicle, was arrested Thursday after crashing the car on south Main Street.
Melanie Joy Perez, 25, of the 1600 block of Casita Court, is charged with felony counts of possession of a stolen vehicle and criminal damage to property. Perez also faces misdemeanor counts of larceny; resisting, evading or obstructing an officer; leaving the scene of an accident; failure to notify owner upon striking property; and driving while license suspended or revoked.
Las Cruces police learned that a 79-year-old woman was shopping at Albertson’s, at 2501 N. Main St., on the morning of Tuesday, Dec. 3. While shopping, with her purse unsecured in the shopping cart, a young woman approached and tried to befriend the shopper, asking her several questions.
At some point, when the 79-year-old shopper turned her attention away from the shopping cart, the young woman swiped the purse and left the store. She then, presumably, located the victim’s white Honda Accord in the parking lot and stole it.
On Thursday evening, a Las Cruces police officer spotted the stolen car near a motel on south Valley Drive. The vehicle fled the area at a high rate of speed. A second LCPD officer later saw the vehicle crash near the 1100 block of south Valley Drive. The driver, later identified as Perez, fled on foot but was apprehended a short distance away.
The crash totaled the victim’s vehicle.
Investigators reviewed surveillance images from the Albertson’s grocery store and determined that Perez was the young woman who stole the purse from the 79-year-old shopper.
Perez was arrested Thursday evening and booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center where she’s initially being held without bond.
Address/Location
Las Cruces Police Department
217 E Picacho Ave
Las Cruces, NM 88001
Contact
Emergency: 9-1-1
Non-emergencies: 575-528-4112
Las Cruces
Police
[email protected]
575-526-0795