ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — School may be out for winter break, but Albuquerque Public Schools police are still hard at work. Turns out, those empty schools may be tempting to would-be criminals. 

New video shows APS police responding when Michael Benavidez broke into Highland High School. They discovered him hanging out in an upstairs hallway.

Officer: “We have alarms and cameras all over the schools.”

Suspect: “I know, but it didn’t go off.”

Officer: “It’s a silent alarm.”

Benavidez told officers he was just hungry. Video shows him walking down the stairs holding milk and an apple that he took from the school’s cafeteria.

He told officers he didn’t break in and that the door was open.

Officer: “Dude, don’t go in the schools. It’s got cameras and alarms.”

Suspect: “The door was open.”

Officer: “No we got here after the alarm.”

Suspect: “Well why was the door open then? I didn’t break in.”

Officer: “It doesn’t matter it’s still not your property.” 

Suspect: “It is my property.”

They found a sack with Benavidez’s stuff, including several school books, in the hall where he’d been hiding.

Benavidez was arrested, but the charges didn’t stick.

While he has a pretty lengthy criminal history, he also has a history of being ruled incompetent to stand trial.

In 2024, we’ve reported on several break-ins at Albuquerque schools. In many cases, with APS police nabbing the suspect.