Campus cops corral cart-caper cruisers

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - A two-mile joyride in a stolen golf cart ended when a reckless spin through the University of New Mexico caught the eye of a security officer, campus police reported.

By the time police arrived at Lower Johnson Field are 10:30 p.m. Saturday the security officer had stopped the cart and had the driver and three passengers sitting on the grass. The three passengers, who said they boarded the cart after its arrival on campus, were questioned and released.

The driver, however, identified as Roger Roybal, 18, admitted he had taken the cart from the Sun Village Apartments where he lived and driven it the two miles to campus, according to the criminal complaint. He identified a student living in a UNM dorm as an accomplice in the theft, but that man could not be located, police said.

It is not clear from the complaint if all the participants were UNM students.

Roybal was charged with conspiracy and larceny over $250 and under $2,500, a felony. He was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center under a $5,000 bond.

A Sun Village maintenance worker identified the car and said its value exceeded $3,000. He also said Roybal didn't have permission to use it, according to the complaint which intially indicated a criminal charge of larceny over $2,500.