New Mexico
Albuquerque man accused in $50K school A/C theft, history of similar crimes
An Albuquerque man is accused of stealing wiring from a school’s air conditioning unit, leading to at least $50,000 in damages.
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.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico plans to build new gates at four campus entrances along Central that will close nightly.
The gates will replace manual barriers in a project expected to cost about $1.5 million.
The Board of Regents approved the security upgrades for the UNM campus.
University officials said the gates will automatically close nightly from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
The gates will go in near Princeton Drive, Stanford Drive, Yale Boulevard and Terrace Street on the south end of campus.
A current rendering shows the gate completely blocking the road. Officials said the change will reduce unauthorized traffic and allow police officers to focus more effectively on prevention and response.
Construction will start in May. University officials hope to finish the project by September.
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