ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – An Albuquerque man is accused of stealing wiring from a school’s air conditioning unit, leading to at least $50,000 in damages.

But court records show he’s been arrested for similar crimes in recent months and hasn’t faced consequences.

Tyler Hammond, 43, is wanted by Albuquerque police after allegedly stealing key components from an A/C unit at Alice King Community School, a K-8 charter school in northeast Albuquerque, on March 9.

A police report indicates the school was informed by inspectors that the unit couldn’t be repaired and therefore had to be replaced at a cost of $50,000 minimum.

Hammond was reportedly caught on surveillance video two days before the alleged crime scoping out the area.

A search of his criminal history in New Mexico reveals dozens of similar cases over the last two decades, including several in the past few months.

However, three recent burglary/larceny cases in 2025 didn’t lead to Hammond facing consequences; instead ending with prosecutors filing a nolle prosequi, meaning they did not want to or were not able to continue pursuing the case.

Many times, prosecutors file a nolle prosequi when a witness, often a police officer, fails to show up to a court hearing.  Court documents indicate that is what happened in at least two of those three recent cases.

The most recent of those cases came in Dec. of 2025 after police arrested Hammond for allegedly stealing wiring from a streetlight near the campus of the University of New Mexico.

There was a similar case in August 2025 in which Hammond was reportedly found by police with drills and pipe cutters after going onto the roof of Coronado Mall.

And police say he targeted another school the month before that.  In July of last year, police were called to Eldorado High School after an unknown man was spotted walking around the campus with a cart.  They say it turned out to be Hammond, who then informed police he had just swallowed fentanyl.

Police searched through his belongings and found items “consistent with burglary tools,” but that case did not lead to Hammond being prosecuted either.

Hammond is also facing a felony conspiracy to commit shoplifting charge and is due in court on that case on March 30.

CHAPARRAL, N.M. (KFOX14/CBS4) — A decision by the Otero County Commission to renew a federal detention services contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is invalid under New Mexico law, according to the New Mexico Department of Justice, stating that the commission violated the state’s Open Meetings Act.

The New Mexico Department of Justice said it determined the commission broke the Open Meetings Act when it convened an emergency meeting on March 13 to renew an ICE contract, continuing to operate an immigration processing center.

Commissioners said the processing center has operated under an intergovernmental service agreement with ICE since the facility opened, and that the agreement is tied to revenue pledged to secure bonds used to build the facility, adding that the existing agreement was set to expire Sunday, March 15, and that ICE sent a replacement agreement a day before the meeting.

Commissioners said the timing forced them to act under emergency authority because there was less than four days before the current agreement expires, and they could not provide a 72-hour notice for a special meeting.

However, after a review by the NMDOJ’s Government Counsel and Accountability Bureau, the department concluded the commission improperly classified the meeting as an “emergency” and failed to meet legal requirements for bypassing standard public notice and transparency procedures.

The NMDOJ also found the expiration of the ICE contract was a known and predictable deadline, not an unforeseen event.

As a result, NMDOJ said the action taken during that meeting, including the vote to renew the contract, is invalid under New Mexico law.

“The Open Meetings Act is not optional,” Attorney General Raúl Torrez said. “It ensures that public business is conducted in the open, not rushed through under the guise of an emergency when no true emergency exists. New Mexicans have a right to transparency and accountability from their local governments, especially when decisions of this magnitude are being made.”

Otero County renews ICE detention contract despite New Mexico ban taking effect in May

Under the Open Meetings Act, emergency meetings are permitted only in response to unforeseen circumstances that pose an immediate threat to public health, safety, property, or cause substantial financial harm.

According to the commissioners, last week’s emergency meeting and renewal were also tied to funding, stating that allowing the agreement to lapse would create significant financial consequences tied to the bonds.

“These revenue bonds were issued in 2007 to finance the construction of Otero County Processing Center,” commissioners said last week, adding the bonds “are still outstanding” and that “the total remaining debt service as of this afternoon is in excess of $19 million.”

Commissioners said the next principal-and-interest payment is due April 1 and warned that if the current agreement expired Sunday, the county would not be able to make that payment.

“If the current IGSA were to expire on Sunday, the payment for that payment would absolutely not be able to be made,” commissioners said.

However, the NMDOJ also determined the county’s justification of potential financial impacts tied to bond obligations stemmed from internal planning failures, not a legitimate emergency, stating that the law does not allow public bodies to use emergency procedures to address foreseeable administrative or financial matters.

Meanwhile, this comes after the Immigrant Safety Act was approved by state lawmakers last month. The law prohibits state or local governments from entering into or renewing contracts to detain individuals for federal civil immigration violations.

This means new ICE detention centers cannot be approved, nor can existing contracts be renewed. The law, which was signed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in early February, is set to take effect in May.

The NMDOJ has directed the Otero County Commission to respond with outlined steps to come into compliance with the law.

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RECOMMENDED: New Mexico bans new and renewed ICE detention contracts under Immigrant Safety Act

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