A Rio Rancho man allegedly hit his friend multiple times then stole a bag full of knives during a recent visit.
At about 12:55 a.m. June 5, Rio Rancho police officers were dispatched to Elizabeth Ann Road in reference to a robbery in progress.
A man reported that an old friend, later identified as 25-year-old Lakota Lucas, showed up acting strange.
Lucas said he wanted to go to the gas station. So, Lucas decided to take him to a Speedway on Autumn Sage Avenue. While en route, he asked Lucas if he was OK. Lucas said he was on Xanax, but then became angry with his friend.
They turned around and went back to the friend’s house where Lucas began going through his friend’s things in the bedroom.
After he asked Lucas to leave, the suspect hit his friend with a closed fist multiple times in the face, according to a criminal complaint.
The friend tried to defend himself but was eventually overpowered. The victim later told officers that he curled up into a ball on the bedroom floor as Lucas continued to hit him.
The suspect briefly calmed down and left him alone before getting on his cellphone and began recording the victim. He held a purple knife threatening the victim who had to admit that Lucas was not the person who beat him up. While this was happening, the victim asked Lucas to let him leave the bedroom so he could get something to stop the bleeding on his eyebrow.
Lucas allegedly stood in front of the door with the knife and would not allow him to leave unless he admitted on video that “he and Lucas were brothers,” the complaint states.
The suspect eventually left to go look for his keys and wallet. That was when the victim ran out of the house.
Lucas chased after him, but the victim was able to make it through the back gate and onto a sidewalk where he asked neighbors to call the police.
He then ran back into the house and took some clothing, a camouflage backpack with multiple knives and some “high-priced” tools before leaving in his vehicle.
The purple knife was later found in the bedroom area. Officers also found Lucas’ wallet on top of a trash can by the front door.
Emergency medical services personnel treated the victim for a laceration on his right eyebrow.
Officers later contacted Lucas at his home, where they arrested him.
When the suspect got to the Sandoval County Detention Center, officers found a small Fentanyl pill in his shoe.
Lucas is accused of armed robbery, aggravated assault (deadly weapon), false imprisonment and possession of a controlled substance.
If convicted, he could face up to 13.5 years in prison and pay a $25,000 fine.
