ABQ police catch suspected tire thief

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Albuquerque police say they have caught a tire thief, who has been striking late at night all over the metro area.

According to police, Edgar Camacho, 20, admitted to driving through an Albuquerque neighborhood Monday and scoping out a truck parked in front of a home. He came back later to steal the wheels and tires, but police were watching him.

For 10 days, officers were watching and recording Camacho’s moves, waiting for him to steal.

Monday, they say they caught him in the act.

Albuquerque police say they have seen a spike in wheel and tire thefts. They say they saw 250 this year and more in Rio Rancho. That's more than one per day.

Police say Camacho admitted to 11 tire thefts, but they are still working to tie him to more.

According to the criminal complaint, Camacho saved some receipts when he sold the stolen tires for cash.

He was arrested Monday while trying to sell the tires at a tire shop on Central Avenue.

The shop is the same business police busted into last month, while another thief was trying to sell stolen wheels.

"I don't know if they're stolen or not,” the owner of Victor’s Tire Shop, Victor Martinez, said.

Martinez says it is impossible to tell what is stolen and what is not.

Police say they are doing sitting back while tire shop owners turn a blind eye. Offivers said they spoke to these owners of the tire shops known to buy wheels. If they keep buying stolen tires and playing dumb, police say they will start charging them with felony possession of stolen property. They could even shut down the business in hopes of stopping this crime.

"When we have these offenders that are going in and they're making sales to these shops and they're doing this sometimes twice a week, or every other week, then it's obvious that these are not legitimate customers," said Sergeant Doug Walton

Camacho is still in jail. He is facing charges of larceny because the tires were worth so much.

Camacho is also charged with possession of stolen property and burglary tools.