Woman charged with armed robberies in Albuquerque racks up more charges
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The charges are racking up against a woman accused of terrorizing businesses across the metro. KRQE News 13 highlighted her arrest last year, for a string of armed robberies. Now, with dozens of more charges, the Albuquerque Police Department hopes they have a strong enough case to keep her behind bars.
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“She went on quite a crime spree. An armed robbery crime spree,” said APD Public Information Officer Gilbert Gallegos.
According to APD, accused armed robber Cleo Barela is responsible for a string of robberies dating back to 2022. She targeted local Starbucks, Subways, and more. Barela has been behind bars for her crimes since the fall of last year. The department has continued gathering evidence and now APD has added a dozen more armed robbery charges and nearly two dozen assault charges. “There’s a strong case against her and we can show the courts that she deserves to be in jail and not out robbing these businesses,” said Gallegos.
According to an arrest warrant, investigators said Barela is known for robbing businesses at gunpoint, even counting down while pointing the gun at employees.
“She just came in, had the gun out right away, pointed it at one of my employees, started demanding the cash and anything else that they had. She started doing a little countdown to kind of threaten him and then he threw the cash on the table. She picked it up, said some obscenities to him and walked right out the door after that,” said Damian Sanchez, one of the owners at Elevated State on Juan Tabo. “I hope that they keep her behind bars.”
Barela is scheduled for trial in August.
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