GRANTS, N.M. – Around 3 p.m. on October 19 a man in a white car pulled up to the Allsup’s Convenience Store on Roosevelt Avenue in Grants, N.M. The man parked at a pump to get gas, walked inside the store and browsed for a minute before the cashiers began to question if the man was stealing a soda, when they questioned him, the man said he had brought the drink in with him. He continued to browse as cashiers called the police. The man then came back to the cashiers and asked for $0.50 in gasoline, but instead of paying in legal tender, the man presented the tellers with fake nails. After being told he would need to pay with real money, the man walked back to the car where he waited until police arrived at 3:07 p.m.
Police arrived at the gas station and went inside to speak with the cashiers. After hearing what the cashiers said, Sergeant Benjamin Thorne went to speak with the man who had stepped out of the white vehicle and began to pretend to pump gas. Sgt. Thorne ran the vehicle’s plates with Cibola Regional Dispatch who informed him that the car was stolen.
Officer Kyler Saavedra came to the scene to assist Sgt. Thorne. Together, they learned the man’s name was Aidan Cole of Albuquerque, N.M. Law enforcement asked him about the vehicle, to which he explained that the vehicle belonged to his sister. He named his supposed sister, who is the registered owner of the white vehicle. GPD asked the Cibola Regional Dispatch to contact Albuquerque Police Department and verify this story.
While GPD waited for confirmation, Cole informed officers that he didn’t steal the vehicle and was just on a “joyride”, before saying that the police couldn’t arrest him for having a fun drive. At this point, dispatch was able to contact the registered owner of the vehicle who said that she does not have a brother and Cole does not have permission to drive the white vehicle.
After charging Cole, GPD found that this is his sixth stolen vehicle charge. Cole has a long rap sheet of crime across New Mexico, mostly centered in the Albuquerque area.
GPD arrested Cole and booked him in the Cibola County Corrections Center in Milan, N.M. As of press time he was waiting to be seen by Magistrate Judge Johnny Valdez for a detention hearing.