A little more than three weeks after the FBI raided the Northeast Albuquerque office of a local attorney, he reported that two people cut the power, broke the back door and entered the premises.
Thomas Clear III, who is being investigated for possible corruption along with several Albuquerque Police Department DWI officers, reported the break-in on Feb. 10. He told police it was the first time he had returned to his office—in a house on Aztec Road NE—since the FBI raid on Jan. 18.
According to an incident report, multiple file cabinets and desk drawers were open inside the office and papers were on the floor. However, Clear reported that the most notable thing missing was baseball paraphernalia.
Clear gave the detectives security camera footage that showed two men walking up to the house around 5 a.m.,then to the side and the back. A French door in the back of the house had a large hole in it, presumed to be the entry point. The officer found that the main breaker in the power box was turned off.
A neighbor’s security camera captured the two men wearing backpacks walking toward the home right before the break-in.
In response to questions about whether APD has any suspects and if the break-in is related to the corruption investigation, APD spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said “the burglary is still under investigation.”
Clear did not immediately respond to a call from City Desk ABQ.
No one has been charged in the federal investigation but six officers—including a commander in the Internal Affairs division—have now been placed on leave as APD conducts its own administrative investigation. One of those officers, Lt. Justin Hunt, has resigned.