APD: Repeat car thief wanted again

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - He may be young, but Jeffrey Brasher, 18, is a thorn in the side of Albuquerque Mayor R.J. Berry and his administration.

Brasher is a property crime suspect who just won’t quit.

He was recently released while awaiting trial on 38 counts in an auto theft case.

Police tell News 13 that did not keep Brasher from going back to his old tricks and now there is another arrest warrant out for him, for allegedly stealing a car last week as it warmed up outside a home.

“It's a shame that a young man has thrown his life away to a life of crime,” Mayor R.J. Berry told News 13 Sunday.

Last November, News 13 reported how Brasher was arrested for taking off with Kristine Gracey’s car as it sat in her garage.

“We believe that they broke into my husband's truck out in the driveway, jimmied that and got into the car and opened the garage door with the garage door opener,” Gracey explained.

Gracey did get her car back, but it was pretty banged up.

Brasher apparently didn’t learn from that arrest when he was named among a half-dozen other suspects, accused in a stolen car ring in January.

According to police Brasher worked alongside the six others, including his brother, Justin.

Jeffrey Brasher was released from jail on his own recognizance without having to post bond.

In his latest arrest warrant, investigators said Brasher left behind a clue to his identity as he swiped a car from a driveway.

“We found his [finger] prints on the car,” Berry said.

Berry vows to see this case through and do what he can to keep Brasher in custody.

“The police are doing great work and it's going to take a team effort between us and the court system to get these knuckleheads off the streets and keep them off the streets,” Berry said.

Brasher is wanted on a $15,000 cash-only bond.

Berry plans to sit down with Police Chief Ray Schultz and his Public Safety Director Darren White Monday to discuss this case.

Brasher is listed among the city’s most wanted property crime offenders.

Berry said 50 have been arrested since the city started showing their pictures on city billboards and in the newspaper.