By KRWG News
Las Cruces – Las Cruces Police arrested a man who forcefully stole a vehicle from a woman at a convenience store and then crashed it on Del Rey Boulevard.
Pahoran Alejandro Garcia-Bustamante, 23, is charged with one count each of robbery and driving while intoxicated.
Shortly before 7 a.m. Tuesday, June 21, Las Cruces Police were called to Del Rey Boulevard where a 2004 Saturn was reported stolen from a woman at a Pic Quik store.
The suspect, later identified as Bustamante, crashed the vehicle a short distance away on Del Rey Boulevard. Bustamante was detained at the crash and transported to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Las Cruces Police detectives learned that a 19-year-old woman had stopped at the Pic Quik store at 2001 Bataan Memorial West, at the corner of Del Rey Boulevard and Bataan, left her keys in the ignition and began fueling her SUV.
As the woman was fueling the vehicle from the passenger-side, she saw Bustamante get into the driver's seat of her vehicle. The woman attempted to keep Bustamante from taking the SUV but he pushed her away and drove off at a high rate of speed.
The woman was not physically injured.
Bustamante drove north on Del Rey Boulevard and lost control of the vehicle, crashing it near Tucson Street. The crash, and subsequent investigation, forced the temporary closure of a portion of Del Rey Boulevard.
Police learned that Bustamante was loitering at the Pic Quik store prior to stealing the SUV. His bond was set at $10,000.