Police, video confirm details of shopping cart confrontation

The Las Cruces Police Department confirmed that two Albertsons grocery store employees took a shopping cart from a Las Cruces woman, despite previous statements when the incident occurred.

Social media posts reporting the incident drew dozens of comments and exposed a rift between the police department and a service organization dedicated to the homeless population, as the city seeks to implement a controversial ordinance banning the use of shopping carts in public.

The Las Cruces Council passed the ordinance on a 4-3 vote on Aug. 5. It criminalizes the use of shopping carts outside of their stores. Anyone caught with them is subject to a $500 fine and potential jail time, although the police officials have said that judges will lean on court-mandated treatment for sentencing.

The ordinance also requires businesses to submit plans to the city about how they’re going to ensure their carts remain on their property. Not doing so could jeopardize the business' ability to operate in Las Cruces. The ordinance will be enforced starting in October.

On Aug. 7, the Mesilla Valley Community of Hope posted a photo of an unhoused woman who’d had her belongings tossed in a parking lot. The caption for the photo read, “Hello helpful friends of Las Cruces! Yesterday a business approached this woman, threw all of her belongings on the street and took the cart back to their business (they don't want to get fined even though the ordinance is not yet in effect). Any chance you have rolling suitcases you're willing to donate? We need your help.”

The post sparked outrage and counter-outrage among residents glued to their Facebook feeds. Some residents decried the post as proof that the shopping cart ordinance had opened the door to harsher treatment towards unhoused residents.

“This is more spite and malice than it is about the shopping cart. Cruel and unnecessary. Looks like many people are willing to help though and that's a positive thing,” one comment read.

Others accused Community of Hope, the area’s largest shelter and resources facility for unhoused residents, of fabricating the story.  

“After reading through all the comments, I suspect that this whole story about an 'unnamed' business dumping these possessions and taking back the cart is not true but designed to sow discord. This is an easy photo to stage,” another comment said.

At the time, LCPD Police Chief said that police had no information to confirm the post’s accuracy.

“All three Albertsons stores have denied any of their employees were involved in that incident. Almost all retailers do not allow their employees to intervene in shoplifting and would not allow their employees to try to recover a cart from someone’s possession,” Story said then.

“The ordinance is very clear that the store does not need to retrieve carts from people (only abandoned carts). We put out a post reinforcing that businesses should not try to take carts from people and that the ordinance is not even in effect yet. We will discuss this with each business individually as a part of their shopping cart plan approval,” he added.

But on Aug. 19, LCPD confirmed that two Albertsons employees were responsible for the incident after they received a video documenting it.

“After reviewing the video, Las Cruces police revisited with management from local Albertsons stores and ultimately learned that one of the stores had, indeed, begun efforts to reclaim their shopping carts,” an LCPD Facebook post stated.

“The video, viewed by police on Friday, Aug. 16, clearly shows a white pickup arrive in the parking lot. Two men exit the pickup and have a conversation with the community member before they load an empty shopping cart into the bed of the pickup and leave the parking lot,” an LCPD Facebook post stated.

The Bulletin reached out to Albertsons’ corporate spokesperson, who did not respond.