One arrested in morning car thefts

CLOVIS — Officials last week investigated multiple early-morning car thefts in northwest Clovis, arresting one while advising the public to take additional precautions in securing their vehicles.

Three vehicles within a half-mile of each other were reported stolen Wednesday morning in a period of less than three hours, according to police records. All three of them were recovered, one in flames, according to Clovis Police Capt. Roman Romero.

The first theft was a 2005 Dodge Ram truck, reported stolen just after 6 a.m. from the 200 block of Sunland Drive. It was recovered later that morning from a parking lot on the 1100 block of Manana Boulevard, Romero wrote, just a block from where a 2010 Volkswagen Jetta was reported stolen shortly before 7 a.m. the same morning.

That Jetta “was set ablaze” and recovered less than half a mile from the site, “in the alleyway of the 100 block of Western Court,” Romero wrote.

Robert Archuleta, 24, on Friday was charged with felony unlawful taking of a motor vehicle and possession of a controlled substance after investigators found a stolen white Ford truck parked in an alley Thursday morning beside his residence on the 100 block of Mississippi Street. That was six miles south from where the truck had been reported stolen less than 24 hours earlier from the 1200 block of Sandia Drive.

Speaking to police, Archuleta “admitted that he had been in the stolen vehicle and the key to the stolen vehicle was in the house,” according to a criminal complaint. He was booked into the Curry County jail just before 11 a.m. Thursday and remained there Saturday. Court records place Archuleta’s address in Albuquerque and did not list any legal representation.

Romero said “the incidents appear related” and that officials recovered DNA samples from all three vehicles.

In an online post Friday afternoon, CPD said “the one thing in common with each of the (stolen) vehicles” was that they were each left running, unattended.

“We understand it’s cold outside and there is ice covering our windows this time of year,” said the post. “The comfort we feel, getting into a warm car, is not very comforting compared to the aggravation, fear, and tension we can feel when one of our most prized possessions is taken.”