Ashley Roybal

From the Office of the Attorney General:

ALBUQUERQUE — The New Mexico Office of the Attorney General’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force issued arrest warrants Thursday for Marvin Alderete and Ashley Roybal.

Alderete and Roybal are wanted in nearly 30 incidents of retail crime from Los Lunas to Rio Rancho, totaling approximately $20,000 in theft and resulting in numerous acts of violence or aggravated assault.

Beginning in November 2021, the retail community began keeping tabs on the couple’s activities after a series of retail thefts that often devolved into violence.

Marvin Alderete

Alderete and Roybal primarily targeted Walmart stores, where they would load carts full of merchandise including electronics, tools and kitchen appliances. They would then walk through the self checkout lines without paying for the merchandise and exit through the front doors.

“Violent retail criminals continue to put innocent people in harm’s way, and I will continue to prioritize people’s safety amid this surge of coordinated crime,” Attorney General Balderas said.

On a number of occasions when asked to produce a receipt for the items being taken, Alderete produced weapons including knives and even handguns in order to effect their escape, going so far as to asking one security guard if he was willing to die.

In another incident, Alderete could be seen in video surveillance footage pummeling a store employee to the ground and then shoving him through a wall while attempting to exit the store. Roybal was sometimes side by side with Alderete during these incidents, or was waiting in the parking lot for Alderete to make his exit.

In one incident Roybal, acting alone, had a toddler in her cart as she attempted to exit the store with a felony amount of merchandise, including televisions and alcohol.

This information was forwarded to the New Mexico Organized Retail Crime Task Force for investigation and warrants were issued for the couple’s arrest.