Man suspected of stealing his own truck

How can you steal something that already belongs to you? A Santa Fe man, facing a huge unpaid bill at an auto repair shop, is wanted for doing that and a whole lot more.

Police say the crook busted through the garage doors of the shop, then led them on a chase that ended on top of a fire hydrant.

Now they have the stolen truck, but not the suspect.

 

The shop owner describes the incident as crazy.

It happened just after 7 p.m. Sunday night at Auto Care 2000 on Cerrillos Road.

The manager Marianne Martinez said she got a call of a burglary, but would have never predicted what happened next.
 
"He drove the truck through the door! And he took the whole door with him," Martinez said.

Martinez explained her shop's bay door was in shambles and Nestor Ramirez's diesel truck with a newly replaced ending was missing.

"The only thing that has logic is he got in and stole his own vehicle," she said.

Police think that's what happened too, and as they were collecting evidence, Martinez's husband spotted the stolen truck zipping down Cerrillos Road right outside the shop.

Police tried to pull the driver over, but about two blocks down the road he high centered the truck on a fire hydrant and ran from the scene. Evidence pictures show beer cans inside which doesn't surprise Martinez.

"I think you have to be pretty off the wall to be able to convince yourself that this is a smart thing to do," she said.

She added Ramirez paid half of his $24,000 bill, but still owes her another $12,000 for repairs to the truck. If caught whoever is responsible will also be liable for the damage to the shop and the city's fire hydrant.

In the meantime Martinez hired an overnight security guard to protect her property.