A Taos couple is facing a felony charge of receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle after they were initially handcuffed and accused of shoplifting — something they were never charged with.
Española Police Officer Andrew O’Hara wrote in criminal complaint for the arrest of Ashley and Gilbert Martinez that on April 5, he was sent to the CVS on North Riverside Drive, for an accusation that they were both shoplifting.
When O’Hara arrived, an employee walked out of the store and said it was the two people who arrived riding a black motorcycle on the side of the building. When Gilbert Martinez, 43, walked out, O’Hara handcuffed him. Martinez consented to a search and O’Hara found no stolen property. Despite not having any stolen goods, O’Hara kept him handcuffed, he wrote.
Once Ashley Martinez, 38, walked out of the store, O’Hara handcuffed her and found she was wanted on a non-extraditable warrant out of Taos County.
O’Hara then asked Gilbert Martinez where he was going and he said back to his car, but he was waiting for his wife and Ashley Martinez said her husband was teaching her how to ride a motorcycle. O’Hara did not write if he ever removed the handcuffs from Gilbert Martinez after he was falsely accused of shoplifting.
O’Hara then ran the motorcycle’s VIN number and found it had been reported stolen out of Santa Fe; he arrested the pair on a charge of receiving or transferring a vehicle. When he searched Gilbert Martinez, he found a baggie which Gilbert Martinez allegedly identified as methamphetamine.
Gilbert Martinez was additionally charged with possession of a controlled substance.
Both were released on their own recognizance two days later, on April 7. Gilbert Martinez was additionally required to report to pre-trial services, which alleged he never contacted them and “his whereabouts is (sic) currently unknown.” Pre-trial services officers have requested a hearing in his case, set for the end of April.