An Albuquerque man accused of conspiring to rob two former CNN reporters at a local motel was indicted by a Bernalillo Co. grand jury Monday on multiple felony charges.

Skyy Barrs, 30, was arrested July 9 and has now been indicted on two counts of kidnapping with a firearm, aggravated burglary, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of attempted armed robbery, two counts of assault with intent to commit a violent felony, and conspiracy to commit kidnapping.

Barrs’s bond has been set at $500,000 cash only.

The July 9 arrest warrant for Barrs  says he and his girlfriend drove a Chevy Malibu to the Motel 6 on Albuquerque’s west side late on the night of June 30. Surveillance footage shows Barrs, his girlfriend and a third person in the car after dropping Walton off.

An APD source told police Barrs and Walton were going to “hit a lick” – slang for committing a robbery – that night. Police say the source told them Barrs gave Walton the gun he used to try and rob de Caro and his wife, former CNN anchor Lynne Russell, that night.

The source also told police that Barrs used Walton “as one of his ‘slaves’, so [Barrs] sent [Walton] with the gun.”

According to the arrest warrant, Barrs also went and picked up Walton briefly after he collapsed in the parking lot after being shot by de Caro three times. However, he then left him there and drove away.

A police search warrant on Walton’s phone also showed that he and Barrs exchanged text messages from earlier that evening just after 9 p.m., and a missed call from Barrs at 11:35 p.m. that night.

The arrest warrant says that “Tomorio’s death was caused by the actions of Skyy Barrs for planning to ‘hit a lick’ and providing Tomorio with a firearm. Tomorio and Skyy are both convicted felons.”

Barrs has five convictions for stolen cars, and one for being a felon in possession of a firearm. In addition to the murder charge, Barrs is charged with kidnapping, armed robbery, aggravated battery, assault, conspiracy and other crimes.

Originally published at KOB.com

Police say they have arrested a carjacking suspect accused of running over an officer while fleeing during a chase through Albuquerque Wednesday morning.

APD has identified the suspect as Thomas Martinez, 26.

Police representative Tanner Tixier said Martinez was involved in three carjacking incidents Wednesday.

The first carjacking occurred near the Super 8 motel on University and Menaul around 9 a.m. A family on vacation were the victims.

Tixier said APD’s investigation then led them to another hotel near Eubank and Lomas, where the suspect took off with a gun in his hand around noon.

During the pursuit, police said Martinez ran south across I-40 and carjacked a victim near the Larry H. Miller car dealership on Eubank near I-40. A detective attempted to rescue the carjacking victim by jumping into the vehicle’s passenger-side window, from which he was thrown, run over and dragged for “several yards” while Martinez fled, Tixier confirmed.

The detective, who Tixier said was a 15-16 year veteran of APD, is listed in stable condition at the hospital.

Martinez fled down I-40 with the carjacking victim still in the car, then exited at Tramway. The victim was able to jump out of the car near Central and Tramway.

APD said Martinez then carjacked an 83-year-old woman in the Four Hills area near Juan Tabo and Singing Arrow Avenue. He crashed into a mailbox 40 yards away after a Good Samaritan drove his vehicle out into the street.

“It could’ve been dangerous, but had he not done this, we might still be chasing him now,” Tixier said at a press conference.

Police took Martinez into custody at the scene of the wreck after using their Tasers on him. The final carjacking victim was not hurt, but transported to the hospital as a precaution.

Tixier says Martinez will be booked into jail on three counts of armed robbery, two counts of kidnapping, aggravated eluding and “whatever charges we can get to get the judge to keep him in jail.”

Court documents show Martinez has been previously arrested on charges of aggravated battery and child abuse.

Tixier said officers had to use a K-9 officer to apprehend him on June 17. He bonded out the next day, according to Tixier.

Tixier also said Martinez was last arrested on July 6 for violating his conditions of release for the June 17 arrest. He bonded out a day later for that arrest as well.

A warrant was issued for his arrest on July 18 on charges of armed robbery, aggravated battery and tampering with evidence.

He also had prior charges for possessing more than eight ounces of marijuana dropped, as were charges for driving on a suspended license and trafficking a controlled substance.

-With Elizabeth Reed, originally published at KOB.com

Albuquerque police arrested six juveniles Thursday in connection withthe June 26 murder of Stephen Gerecke in his northeast Albuquerque driveway.

Four of the teens – all male – will be charged as adults. They are 16-year-old Christopher Rodriguez, 16-year-old Jeremiah King, 15-year-old Andrew Hubler and 17-year-old Ryan Archibeque.

KOB is not naming the other two teen boys charged, as they will be charged as juveniles.

All six face murder charges.

One of the boys who will be charged as juveniles told detectives he and his friends wanted to go “car and house mobbing,” according to a police report – meaning go break into cars and houses in a large group.

The teen said he was with King, Rodriguez, Hubler, Archibeque and the other charged teen, as well as three other teen boys who he said he did not know.

He told police they were “mobbing” near the 6700 block of Kelly Ann NE, and stole money, a TV and a wallet from a home on the block. He told detectives that a man came out of the house they had robbed with a silver rifle.

The teen told detectives that King fired three shots at the man. The first shot knocked King over, but he got up and fired twice more.

The teens then ran back to the stolen SUV they were riding in and then drove off to rob more houses. The police report does not say whether or not the man was hit.

They then went to the 1400 block of Chihuahua NE to rob more houses. The teen told police he was sitting in the back seat of the stolen car when he heard gunshots coming from a house just west of where the car was parked, and then heard a man moaning in the same area.

He told police that King, Rodriguez, Hubler and Archibeque all ran back to the stolen car, and that King – who was holding the gun – began bragging about shooting a man in the face.

They then went to rob more houses and cars and stole two more cars – a red Ford Explorer and a white Lexus SUV.

They then drove to McDonald’s and to a Smith’s near UNM before the teen was dropped off. Before ending their “mobbing” spree, the teens allegedly drove to an intersection near Juan Tabo and I-40 to discard the stolen items they didn’t want.

The teen identified King as the shooter in Gerecke’s murder.

Gerecke had just gotten home from work at Spectators Sports Bar. His granddaughter told KOB he was getting ready to walk his dog when he was greeted by thieves in his living room. She says he chased them out, but he was shot in his driveway.

ANOTHER VICTIM TALKS

Another man told KOB Thursday night he woke up to the same teens in his bedroom.

“I listened a minute and then I said, ‘hey, what are you doing?!’ you know, like real loud,” said the man, who wished to be identified only as Charles. “Then, boy, I could really hear them moving, so I jumped up and started to put my pants on, but I didn’t have any pants. They had taken them. It had my car keys, my wallet – everything in it.”

Police would later learn the teens stole his credit card and used it at a nearby McDonald’s – one of the many clues that led APD to their arrest.

Charles says he chased the teens and feels lucky to be alive.

“When I chased them out, when they finally went out the door – I grabbed a .308 and I had it loaded,” Charles said. “I ran to the front door.”

He says the teens took off in a pickup and fired three shots in the air as they drove away.

Gerecke’s wife said she is getting ready for her husband’s memorial service tomorrow.

The two teens not charged as adults are in custody at CYFD.

-Originally published at KOB.com

Thursday night, Albuquerque police identified the man killed in a shootout at a west side Motel 6 with former CNN reporter Chuck de Caro as 27-year-old Tomorio Walton, who APD says is an absconder out of Memphis, Tennessee.

APD spokesperson Tanner Tixier said it is unknown how long Walton had been in the Albuquerque area or if he is connected to other crimes here.

However, a Tennessee court records search shows Walton has an extensive criminal history filled with property theft, vandalism and burglary charges.

View a list of all of Walton’s charges in Tennessee here.

Court records show Walton’s last arrests were in December of last year. On Christmas Eve, he was charged with vandalism and pleaded guilty. Just five days later, he was charged with burglarizing a vehicle and being in possession of burglary tools. He pleaded guilty to having burglary tools.

He had a probation violation in May of 2013 after committing a property theft.

But court records show 18 more property theft charges have been filed against him in Shelby Co., Tennessee since 2007.

Court records show 37 total cases against Walton since his first documented crime – property theft and evading arrest – was committed in June 2007.

Most of his charges involve property theft or vandalism of objects under $500, but he does have a few violent charges. In March 2013, he was arrested for domestic assault with bodily harm. He later pleaded guilty.

A year earlier, he pleaded guilty to patronizing a prostitute. He was indicted for an Aug. 2010 arrest on assault with bodily harm, vandalism, theft and auto burglary charges.

In 2009, he was indicted for an arrest in January of that year for attempted aggravated robbery and two counts of assault.

His fiance, who wanted to remain anonymous, told KOB Friday that Walton was in town visiting her and ran out of money. She said he needed enough to get back to Tennessee, got caught up with drug dealers and was selling drugs the night of the shooting.

Police have not confirmed those details at this point.

Walton’s criminal past seems to be consistent with the story former CNN anchor Lynne Russell told KOB about the incident that occurred late Tuesday.

She told KOB she and her husband, de Caro, decided to stop at the motel for the night because they were tired after a long day of traveling and had their dog with them. When she went out to the car to get something and returned to the room, she said an armed man was at the door with a handgun.

“He pushed me into the room and that’s when my husband came out of the shower and saw what was happening,” Russell told KOB Wednesday. “We tried to calm him, confuse him and do everything we could do to just come out of it in one piece.”

When it became clear to Russell that the man may shoot them, she told him they would look in her purse for something. Russell said she and her husband have concealed carry licenses, and she had a gun inside her purse.

“He wound up taking my husband’s briefcase, and instead of just taking it and leaving, he took it and went over and started firing at my husband. And Chuck fired back and it was a shootout,” she said.

De Caro remains in an Albuquerque hospital recovering from three or four gunshot wounds, according to Albuquerque police.

Walton died after the exchange with de Caro.

De Caro is a former CNN investigative reporter and a consultant for the Pentagon.

Russell was an anchor for CNN Headline News and retired about 10 years ago. She was not hurt in the incident.

Originally published at KOB.com

UPDATE: Thursday night, Albuquerque police identified the man killed in a shootout at a west side Motel 6 with former CNN reporter Chuck de Caro as 27-year-old Tomorio Walton, who APD says is an absconder out of Memphis, Tennessee.

APD spokesperson Tanner Tixier said it is unknown how long Walton had been in the Albuquerque area.

————

Albuquerque police say they believe they’ll have a positive identification Thursday night on the alleged robber who was shot and killed at a local Motel 6 late Tuesday in a gunfight with a former CNN investigative reporter.

Lynne Russell, also a former CNN anchor, told KOB she and her husband, Chuck de Caro, decided to stop at the motel for the night because they were tired after a long day of traveling and had their dog with them. When she went out to the car to get something and returned to the room, she said an armed man was at the door with a handgun.

“He pushed me into the room and that’s when my husband came out of the shower and saw what was happening,” Russell told KOB Wednesday. “We tried to calm him, confuse him and do everything we could do to just come out of it in one piece.”

When it became clear to Russell that the man may shoot them, she told him they would look in her purse for something. Russell said she and her husband have concealed carry licenses, and she had a gun inside her purse.

“He wound up taking my husband’s briefcase, and instead of just taking it and leaving, he took it and went over and started firing at my husband. And Chuck fired back and it was a shootout,” she said.

Thursday, police said de Caro had three or four gunshot wounds, and have “no reason” to doubt Russell’s story.

Police are looking at video from a security camera on an adjacent hotel that points directly at the room in which the shootout took place in hopes it could provide more clues.

The suspect died in the gunfire exchange.

“I am very, very proud of my husband. He is my hero,” Russell told KOB Wednesday. “He saved my life.”

De Caro is a former CNN investigative reporter and a consultant for the Pentagon.

Russell was an anchor for CNN Headline News and retired about 10 years ago. She was not hurt in the incident.

Originally published at KOB.com