Albuquerque police arrest 3 men charged with stealing liquor

By KOB

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – APD has arrested three men who are believed to be part of a group that has been stealing liquor and other merchandise from convenience stores in the Northeast Heights.

Several suspects were seen in a video shared last week walking out of a Walgreens store with liquor.

Three people were arrested Tuesday. A fourth suspect, Oliver Manning, 43, has a warrant for his arrest.

Detectives were contacted Tuesday about two of the suspects, Nathan Castillo, 46, and Brian Singer, 35, who stole merchandise from the Walgreens on Harper Drive. They reportedly went south on Wyoming and got into a van.

Detectives followed the van to the area of Wyoming and Marquette Avenue SE, where they made contact with the two men. The men were arrested for stealing more than $300 worth of merchandise. The Walgreens manager confirmed the men were the thieves, and told police that Castillo was at the store the previous day, on July 10, and stole more than $1,400 worth of alcohol.

APD has arrested three men who are believed to be part of a group that has been stealing liquor and other merchandise in the Northeast Heights.

The manager said Castillo has stolen merchandise in the past and has threatened violence against employees.

Detectives are charging Castillo under a new law that combines the value of stolen merchandise so the suspect can be charged with a felony, rather than separate misdemeanors.

Castillo is charged with shoplifting over $500, conspiracy to commit shoplifting over $500, and criminal damage to property under $1,000. He was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center.

Singer, who was seen in the video on social media last week, is charged with shoplifting over $250, but less than $500, compounding a crime.

As detectives were booking Castillo and Singer, offices responded to a report of a third individual who stole merchandise from the Albertsons.

Officers arrived and tracked Joshua Peralto, 26, to a nearby irrigation channel where they arrested him. He is charged for the theft at Albertsons. Peralto is also believed to be one of the individuals shown in the video of the burglary at Walgreens last week.

UPDATE

On the afternoon of July 17, police found Brian Singer with a gunshot wound while responding to a shooting in the area of Kentucky and Acoma in southeast Albuquerque.

Paramedics took Singer to the hospital. Doctors put him on life support July 26. He died nine days later.