Albuquerque woman frustrated after two of her vehicles stolen in hospital parking lot days apart

Yahoo

24-04-2025

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – At a time when her focus should've been solely on her dying father, an Albuquerque woman found herself becoming a victim of crime. 'This is just unacceptable for anybody to deal with, much less in a time of need,' said Shannon Jacques.
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Last Tuesday, she was at Presbyterian downtown putting her father on hospice care, when she left the hospital and somehow faced more tough news. 'Spent about two hours in the hospital. When we left to come outside, our vehicle had been stolen,' said Jacques.
Just days later, on Easter Sunday, her father passed away at the hospital. Jacques and her husband walked out of the hospital only to find out thieves had struck again. 'We both laughingly said lightning could not strike twice. He made it in time for my father's last breath, and two hours later, after all of the stuff that happens when somebody passes, we walked outside to his vehicle being stolen,' said Jacques.
The family is now left dealing with the aftermath during some of their hardest days. 'It's an epidemic. It's absolute ludicrous that we would lose two vehicles in a week,' she said.
The Albuquerque Police Department is now asking the public to be on the lookout for a Lincoln Navigator it said could be involved. APD said there is a growing trend in people targeting trucks like these, including Chevrolet Silverados, Ford F-150s, and Ford F-350s.
'When those trends shift, it tends to be a smaller group of people or individuals who are doing that,' said Gilbert Gallegos, Communications Director of APD.
Overall, APD said statistics show auto thefts are down in the city about 44% this year compared to this time last year. 'But like everything else, even if it's down and we're encouraged, there's still victims out there,' he said.
APD has received reports of a few cars stolen from Presbyterian in the last 28 days. 'Having two vehicles stolen in short proximity of time and having family tragedy at the same time, it's totally understandable that she be very frustrated,' said Gallegos. 'These are crimes of opportunity. They're not thinking of the victims, they're not thinking of what they're going through, or even what kind of hassles they're going to cause for them by doing this.'
Gallegos noted that people who commit these crimes to support a drug addiction need help, but said that repeat offenders getting back on the streets is frustrating. 'I think that's why our officers get frustrated when we arrest someone and they get right back out because they know it's going to create more victims,' said Gallegos.
'I know that our police department is stretched thin, and I know they're doing everything they can because they're doing wonderful with me,' said Jacques.
Still, she is sharing her story in hopes this does not happen to anyone else. 'It's difficult to now have to deal with insurance on top of planning a funeral. But, I really want to hold our leadership accountable because I don't feel like it's leadership,' said Jacques. 'We should not tolerate this. As a community, it should be unacceptable.'
Anyone with information on the Lincoln Navigator suspected to be involved is asked to contact Crime Stoppers, anonymously at (505) 843-STOP (7867), p3tips.com/531 or Text 'ABQCS' to 738477.
Presbyterian Heatlhcare Services sent this statement:
The safety of our facilities, workforce, patients and members is a top priority. As part of our efforts, we maintain 24/7 onsite security officers, work closely with the Albuquerque Police Department and use technology and other measures to help prevent security incidents.
Unfortunately, we are aware of two recent vehicle thefts and deeply sympathize with the families who were impacted by these incidents. In both cases, we filed incident reports and shared video footage with Albuquerque Police Department to further their investigation.
Pete Camacho, Vice President of Enterprise Security, Presbyterian Healthcare Services,
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