Brothers charged in multiple carjackings, auto thefts
Jul. 22—Two brothers stand accused in a string of crimes over several months in Albuquerque, including multiple vehicle thefts and carjackings where shots were fired.
Adrian Cly, 21, and Jeremy Cly, 23, are each charged with two counts of armed robbery and auto theft, and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and tampering with evidence in various crimes between March and June.
Both have been booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center and prosecutors have filed a motion to detain the pair until trial.
An attorney for Jeremy Cly declined to comment, while an attorney for Adrian Cly did not respond to a message seeking comment.
Detectives connected the pair to the crimes through video evidence from a police bait car, witness statements and matching the casings from various scenes to a single gun.
At one point, according to police, one or both brothers were tied to an incident where shots were fired at an undercover auto theft detective.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court:
The incidents began in March when an SUV was stolen from a rental company.
An employee of Enterprise Rent-A-Car by the Sunport called police March 23 to report that a blue SUV had been stolen off the lot weeks earlier. On April 10, police responded to a carjacking, possibly involving the stolen rental SUV, near Juan Tabo and Central SE.
A woman told police three armed men in a blue SUV stole her vehicle with her belongings inside and fired shots at her friend in the process. Police collected 9mm shell casings from the scene and found the woman's vehicle abandoned a mile away.
Detectives were eventually able to use GPS tracking to find the Apple AirPods stolen in the carjacking and the man who had them told police he bought them from a stranger later identified as Jeremy Cly.
On April 18, two men and a woman stole a police bait vehicle in Southeast Albuquerque before dropping off one of the men, and the pair ditched the vehicle and fled police, with the man getting away. Police said the man was later identified as Adrian Cly in the bait car video and, at one point, asked "where's Jeremy?"
The woman, 18-year-old Tylea Chavez, was charged in the incident, but those charges were later dismissed due to "insufficient evidence to proceed," according to court records.
The next day, an undercover auto theft detective found the stolen rental SUV before the occupants "fired at least one gunshot" toward the detective and chased him out of the area. The SUV was found soon after and detectives found a 9mm casing inside, and lifted a fingerprint from the driver's side that matched Adrian Cly as "a possible candidate."
Police learned Adrian Cly lived near where the SUV was abandoned and where the bait vehicle was stolen from. They identified him as the thief seen in the bait car video.
On May 6, police responded to a carjacking near Central and Tramway after a man reported that two armed men stole his car at gunpoint, firing a round in the air. Police found the stolen car abandoned a mile away with a 9mm casing stuck between the hood and windshield.
The man told police that one of the carjackers called the other "Jeremy" during the incident.
On May 31, a general manager of the same Enterprise Rent-A-Car called 911 to report that a white SUV had been stolen from the lot in a similar manner to the blue SUV theft.
On June 16, officers responded to a dispute near Central and Tramway, and the caller, Adrian Cly's ex-girlfriend, told police he had beat her, pointed a gun at her and fired two rounds before fleeing. Ballistics determined the 9mm casings found in both carjackings, inside the stolen blue SUV and the domestic dispute involving Adrian Cly were all from the same gun.
On June 23, New Mexico State Police found the stolen white rental SUV at the Four Hills Studios near Central and Tramway, with a person apparently sleeping inside. Officers conducted a "high-risk stop" and arrested Adrian Cly, who was the sole occupant of the SUV.
Cly told police he knew the SUV was stolen from the Sunport and was only moving it from one part of the complex to another for a man named "Ghost." Albuquerque police arrested Jeremy Cly at Four Hills Studios on July 18.
