CRIME
Deming man accused of stealing ambulance
Police said suspect used morphine taken from inside ambulance
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A Deming man is accused of stealing an ambulance and using the morphine found inside.
Alfredo Zuniga Gonzales, 53, is charged with non-residential burglary, DWI, burglary of a vehicle, two counts of possession of controlled substances and three counts of resisting, evading or obstructing an officer, among other charges.
He was arrested and booked into the Luna County Detention Center on Tuesday.
Gonzales was on conditions of release for unrelated cases at the time of the incident. In those cases, he is accused of failing to register as a sex offender and possessing methamphetamines and drug paraphernalia.
鈥淭he Defendant is charged with multiple felonies鈥� in an incident that clearly and convincingly indicates this Defendant is dangerous and will continue to reoffend and escalate his criminal activity with impunity,鈥� states a pretrial detention motion filed in Luna County Magistrate Court.
On Tuesday, Deming Police Department officers were dispatched around 7:30 a.m. to a report of a ambulance stolen from the bay of the fire department, according to a statement of probable cause filed in court.
An officer spotted the ambulance and stopped the vehicle, telling the driver 鈥� later identified as Gonzales 鈥� to step out. Gonzales walked out of the vehicle and said, 鈥淚鈥檓 not going in handcuffs today," and began walking away from officers, according to the probable cause statement.
Police said officers struggled to get Gonzales into custody and two officers had to tackle him to handcuff him. During a search, officers saw a bag of crystal meth fall out of Gonzales鈥� shoe.
An emergency medical technician met with police to see if any items were missing from the ambulance and noticed a safe was opened, according to the probable cause statement. A bag containing two vials of morphine and two vials of fentanyl with syringes were missing.
Officers said they later found a used vial of morphine near the front seat of the ambulance.
Nakayla McClelland covers crime and breaking news. Reach her at nmcclelland@abqjournal.com or at 505-823-3857.
