Guns Stolen From 3 Police Vehicles
Weapons locked inside three law enforcement vehicles are missing after the vehicles were broken into overnight Tuesday in Rio Rancho and northwest Albuquerque. (Thursday, December 18, 2008)

Thieves took assault rifles bolted into gun racks. In each case the drivers side window was broken to gain access.

A thief cut through a fence at the California Highway Patrol's Martinez office early today, broke into a cruiser and made off with a semiautomatic rifle and ammunition, authorities said.

Gun thieves raid cops' cars

Assault rifles stolen

RIO RANCHO, N. M. (KRQE) - Whoever broke into five take-home police cars overnight Tuesday made off with assault rifles after defeating the locked brackets holding the weapons in place.

Investigators said the thieves knew what they were doing when they first broke patrol cars' windows and then unlocked the doors,

"And then that way the alarm doesn't go off," Sandoval County Sheriff John Paul Trujillo said.

Once inside they went for one thing: AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifles.

And the crime wasn't quick. Rifles in law enforcement vehicles are usually locked into place, until someone starts the ignition.

"Whoever broke in, they knew how to release it," New Mexico State Police Lt. Ramon Casaus told KRQE News 13. "What they actually used to break the lock that released the rifle out, we don't know.

"That's still under investigation."

And whoever hit the State Police car is likely behind the theft of rifles from two Sandoval County deputies' cars, according to Trujillo.

A Bernalillo County sheriff's unit also was hit. Three of the thefts happened in the same general area of northwest Albuquerque and Rio Rancho,

Albuquerque police reported one of its take-home cars also was broken into and a Taser electric-dart gun stolen in a northeast neighborhood. APD policy requires firearms to be removed from vehicles overnight.

That hasn't been the policy in Sandoval County.

"We're going to be changing some things around, and we're just going to see how we can better secure the weapons," Trujillo said.

State Police said it is going to be asking officers to take their rifles inside their homes.

Ammunition and a digital camera were also stolen.

Anyone with information on the crimes can call Crime Stoppers at 843-STOP (843-7867).

State Police said it is going to be asking officers to take their rifles inside their homes.