Camera records theft of prized headdress

ROSWELL, N.M. (KRQE) - An authentic piece of Indian art, a main attraction for a southeastern New Mexico store, was stolen in a brazen theft Thursday.

The crooks took off with a 6-foot-long custom made Indian headdress, and it was all caught on camera.

Gallery Indian Crafts in Roswell is a long-time local shop that sells everything from mattresses to hand-crafted Native American jewelry. Their prized possession is stamped on a billboard on Main Street: a 6-foot tall headdress made by the Sioux Indians.

"It was like our logo almost, real special to us," store owner Darel Devenport told KRQE News 13
Now Devenport would like to catch the thieves who took off with it.

Surveillance video from Thursday afternoon shows a man dressed in black with a shaved head approach the counter and ask to see a catalog. Later, another guy comes in asking about cribs and the headdress by the jewelry counter. 

"They asked the price of it, one of the gentleman did as he went out he asked how much it was," recalled Devenport.

But the man didn't act like he wanted to buy it. "He just asked how much that was," Devenport said.

When Devenport told the man the headdress was $1,000, the man left. Clerks said the two men who came in minutes apart appeared to be together, and both got into the same vehicle. 

Devenport said the suspects' vehicle sat in the parking lot in front of his store for nearly an hour. At the time, he thought maybe the two men had gone to a different store, but Devenport said it later became apparent the suspects were plotting their move.

When the delivery men for the store had left around 1:30 p.m. a man shown on surveillance enters the store, makes a beeline for the headdress, grabs it from the stand, and takes off running. The video shows the suspect getting into a white vehicle and the two driving off.

"It always hurts anytime they come in and do things like that," said Devenport. He said not only would he like the store icon back, Devenport has another wish too.

"I'd like to see the gentlemen quit stealing, maybe get a job," he said.  "I think that would be a real good idea for everybody."

Clerks from the store said the suspect's white vehicle should be easy to recognize. They said the Yukon-type SUV had a black mustache painted on the front of it, either on the windshield or above the chrome grill.

The man who stole the headdress is described as Hispanic, about 5 feet 6' inches with short dark hair and a goatee. The getaway driver is described as Anglo, around 5 feet 10 inches and 170 pounds with a shaved head and tattoos on the back of his neck.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Roswell Police Department.