Mayor Keller, APD Address Concerns at Known Problem Location

ALBUQUERQUE- Mayor Tim Keller and Chief Harold Medina once again highlighted continued crime concerns at the Adam Food Market, located at 7817 Central Ave., N.E.

Adam Food Market is a privately-owned business at the intersection of Central Ave. and Pennsylvania St., where APD has responded to criminal activity on a daily basis. Since 2020, there have been seven murders at the location, as well as a shoot-out that injured an APD officer and the auto theft suspect.

The City of Albuquerque filed a lawsuit against the Adam Food Market in 2023. The court wanted us to make some changes to explain what was happening on the property. Since then, we have tried to work with the property owners, and have also been working to prepare a new complaint based on the continuing criminal activity.

The property was recently purchased by new owners, but the crime has persisted.

• In the last few weeks, APD arrested a suspect who battered a man in the parking lot before stealing the man’s vehicle. One of our officers from the Southeast Area Command, who are here every day, recognized the offender when he saw video of the beating.
• On Feb. 1, undercover detectives paid for narcotics inside the store, were sent to a nearby motel to pick up the drugs. The operation resulted in six felony arrests.
• A week later, another undercover operation resulted in searches of two vehicles at the market. Recovered a firearm and trafficking amounts of narcotics.

City and APD officials met with the new owners of the property to address concerns about the criminal activity and outlined several steps to address the crime. The business owners have not responded since that meeting. As a result, the city is taking steps to add updated information into a new complaint so we can go back to court to stop this problem.

“The amount of criminal activity occurring at this one location is unacceptable,” said Chief Harold Medina. “We tried working with business owners, and we tried to take legal action, but the crime continues. We will keep up the pressure, but we can’t afford to devote so many police resources to one problem area.”

“We will not allow private business owners to support an atmosphere for criminal activity,” said Mayor Tim Keller. “The city will continue to fight against drivers of crime and take action against them when necessary to ensure public safety.”