For Immediate Release:
March 15, 2022
Contact: Jerri Mares — (505) 321-4372
ALBUQUERQUE, NM— Attorney General Hector Balderas announces that serial shoplifter, Isaiah Martinez, will remain in jail as his criminal cases move forward. District Court Judge Joseph Montano found that Isaiah Martinez was a danger to the community and to the state’s economy. Judge Montano also found that there were no conditions of release that would ensure Martinez’s compliance with court orders because Martinez was already under conditions of release in two other cases with which he did not comply.
“I commend Judge Montano for keeping this dangerous defendant behind bars until trial,” said Attorney General Hector Balderas. “The defendant’s brazen acts of using a flash mob to commit crimes has wreaked terror on the community and is not acceptable.”
In October 2021, Isaiah Martinez began boldly shoplifting thousands of dollars worth of designer sunglasses, even going so far as to strike a female security officer who attempted to thwart him as he committed the thefts. Martinez was arrested on March 3, 2022 and he threw himself over a third-story balcony in an attempt to evade capture. Martinez is responsible for stealing nearly $60,000 worth of designer sunglasses and has been charged with twenty-one counts related to his brazen crime spree, as well as conspiracy and aggravated assault.
This case was investigated and prosecuted as part of the emerging Organized Retail Crime (ORC) Task Force. The investigation involved the NM Office of the Attorney General and asset protection personnel from the retail community, and is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Ashley Schweizer.
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