ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – This week, the Albuquerque Police Department and New Mexico National Guard begin a partnership aimed at fighting crime on Central Avenue. That work is overlapping with a special operation that the Bernalillo County District Attorney and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office have been working on in the same area for months.
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In three months, the DA said Operation Route 66 has led to more than 600 arrests. Roughly a third of those arrested are still in jail. “The businesses in that community deserve it, and the people that live there deserve it. No way should it be the way we found it months ago,” said Sam Bregman, Bernalillo County District Attorney.
Three months into Operation Route 66, District Attorney Sam Bregman said his agents, state police, and sheriff’s deputies have made 637 arrests in criminal cases ranging from murder to drugs to stolen cars and more. “This operation is hell bent, quite frankly, on making sure that people are not committing crime on those streets. So if they continue to commit felonies, we’re going to arrest them every single time,” said Bregman.
Of the more than 600 arrests, 14 people have been arrested twice or more. That includes Michael Farfan, who the DA says has been arrested in the operation five times alone.
He has a pending case on Monday tied to a stolen car. “He obviously doesn’t get it, right? He doesn’t get it. He does not deserve to be on the streets of Albuquerque because he’s committing crime, and we’re just not going to put up with it. We’re going to keep arresting him until he stays in jail,” said Bregman.
Bregman said just over 174 of those arrested in the operation since it start of the operation are still in jail. Meanwhile, another 121 people arrested have either pled to probation violations or at now involved in pre-prosecution diversion programs. “So, we are holding people accountable,” Bregman said.
The DA’s office said there’s still plenty of work to be done. It could be around a year and a half for some suspects after they’re arrested to either face prosecution or a plea deal. The district attorney said that of the 600 arrests in the operation so far, prosecutors have filed 46 motions to keep suspects in jail while awaiting trial. A judge has approved about 75 percent of those.
