Daily Lobo new mexico
thursday March 26, 2015 | Vo l u m e 1 1 9 | I s s u e 1 2 6
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
Vehicles burglarized on campus lots UNMPD on alert after eight vehicles targeted on same day By Lauren Marvin Some days are better than others, but for eight unlucky car owners, March 18 was one of the worst. Seven vehicles were reported burglarized and one was reported stolen to the UNM Police Department. Most of the incidents happened at the Lands West Parking Lot, which is located at 1209 University Blvd. NE. According to the daily crime log report, only one other auto burglary has been reported since March 18. Lt. Tim Stump, UNMPD’s public information officer, said even though the department has been concentrating on finding the perpetrators for the past week,
there are no suspects at this time. The department has considered the possibility that the incidents at Lands West and others across UNM campus may be connected, he said. According to the reports, all of the vehicles burglarized on Lands West were pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles. “We are always out on watch, we are always out throughout campus patrolling and looking for people and vehicles that are suspicious. Obviously we missed it that day,” Stump said. Most car thefts on UNM campus occur during regular business hours, he said. Cars parked in campus lots are easy targets for crime because most people work all day without returning to their car, he said.
Stump said he has no knowledge of a car-theft ring but said UNMPD does collaborate with the Albuquerque Police Department regarding theft trends. Out of the eight vehicles only one was reported stolen. However, most of the vehicles had damage to the locks, windows, ignition, steering column and some items were stolen including a stereo, according to the reports. Karin Murray, a registered nurse for UNM Hospital, said she filed a report with UNMPD after failing to start her car because of a damaged ignition, and realizing that paperwork from her center console was scattered in the front seat. According to the report, Murray returned to her truck after
working for 13 hours. An officer was dispatched to the scene and observed the driver-side lock punched in, which allowed the suspect to gain entry. Murray said for 30 years she has parked at M lot and the other parking structures at UNM. However, this year she was unable to renew her permit for M lot. After receiving the permit for Lands West, she was worried about being burglarized, and it did not take long for her worries to come to fruition, she said. “People park their vehicles there for probably between 9 to 13 hours at a time, unattended. And the people who burglarized the lot, they know that, and nobody checks
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Theft page 2
“As it is shown throughout history, video cameras do not prevent a crime. Sometimes, if we are lucky, they assist in a capture but they don’t deter — they don’t stop the crime.” Lt. Tim Stump
UNMPD public information officer
Santolina plan raises concerns for residents Protesters swarm Commission offices in outcry of the Santolina Master Plan By Steve “Mo” Fye More than 100 residents met downtown on Wednesday to protest against the proposed Santolina Master Plan. Members of nearly a dozen community organizations, along with five tractors belonging to local farmers, marched to the Bernalillo County Commission office to share their concerns about how the proposed city would affect the area’s already limited water supply. Virginia Necochea, executive director of the Center for Social Sustainable Systems, said despite their opposition to the plan, the Contra Santolina coalition is not an anti-growth group. “We are concerned citizens are trying to spread information about the negative impact of Santolina,” she said. “We have to prioritize our existing communities — we should come first.” Some also attended the protest to show their concern for an op-ed piece in the
Steve “Mo” Fye / Daily Lobo / @UncaMo
Protesters show their opposition to the Santolina Master Plan, which was discussed by the Bernalillo County Commission on Wednesday.
Albuquerque Journal that was written by Art de la Cruz. Commissioner de la Cruz, vice-chair of the commission that would make the final decision on the plan, wrote “Santolina development isn’t the threat opponents claim” in favor of the plan on March 23. In it, Cruz characterized opponents of the plan — many of whom he represents — as “spreading fear” in the community. Cruz wrote that he supported the decadesspanning plan to place the community on undeveloped land, rather than allowing
the owners to sell it in smaller parcels. Unplanned development would be haphazard and even more risk to the water supply, he wrote. The Southwest Organizing Project, a non-profit advocacy group, issued a press release saying citizens are upset that Cruz wrote his opinion before hearing testimony. In response to de la Cruz’s letter, “the New Mexico Environmental Law Center filed a request for recusal with the Bernalillo County Commission on behalf of SWOP, New Mexico Health
Equity Working Group and Pajarito Village Association. This request asks that de la Cruz recuse himself or that the commission disqualify him because he is not impartial,” according to the release. The motion stated that the commission’s hearing of the plan was a “quasi-judicial” matter, and that de la Cruz was biased. Attorney Dick Minzner, representing Western Albuquerque Land Holdings, the development company for Santolina, argued that the commission was a legislative body and that the motion did
not apply. De la Cruz declined to recuse himself, and there was no motion by any other commissioner to excuse him. Santiago Maestas, president of the South Valley Regional Association of Acequias, said because of drought conditions, farmers in the area are forced to borrow water from the city of Albuquerque just to irrigate their fields. He said farmers in the South Valley already owe more than 50,000 acrefeet of water to the city. In the past, farmers had enough see Santolina page 2