Nathan Reeves, about 30, of Rio Rancho, was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a controlled substance, unlawful carry of a deadly weapon, aggravated burglary and five counts of burglary of a vehicle on Sept. 9.

An off-duty officer contacted the Sandoval County Regional Emergency Communication Center to report his vehicle had been burglarized in the early morning hours at a residence on Vista De Colinas Drive, sayin an iPad Pro worth about $1,200 had been stolen out of car. Video footage from 6:11 a.m. showed a male near the vehicle who get spooked when someone takes the trash outside and hides. He is seen with the laptop case before dropping it.

He used the device’s tracker to track it to 38th Street. Around 11:40 a.m., it began to move west on Southern Blvd., tracked it to the location and saw  Reeves walking down the road holding his iPad. He reported the new information, and on-duty officers located Reeves on Peachtree Road.

Reeves claimed he had picked the iPad up from a friend named Travis Morgan, giving him a game console and $34 for the iPad. However, the home screen on the iPad was a photo of the victim and his family. At this point, Reeves was arrested for receiving stolen property. Police found a piece of aluminum foil with two burnt fentanyl pills, other drug paraphernalia, a gun with  a holster and a fully loaded magazine with a round in the chamber in his backpack.

Reeves admitted to the drugs but denied knowing about the firearm and then stating that the backpack belonged to Morgan. He also claimed the male seen in the video was Morgan. However, he was taken to the Sandoval County Detention Center and charged with receiving stolen property, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and unlawful carrying of a deadly weapon.

At this point, another victim arrived at the Rio Rancho Police Station to report a vehicle burglary. He said his video cameras captured a man walking near his vehicle at 4:38 a.m. He reported his gun and holster, matching the items found on Reeves, had been taken along with three bottles of cologne.

Reeves was identified as the man in this video and compared the footage to that of the first victim. Officers determined the man in the video to be Reeves as well. They conducted another search of Reeves’ backpack as well as the laptop sleeve found at the scene of the first report and found the name of a possible third victim. They contacted him and discovered some of the items in the backpack were stolen from his vehicle Sept. 7.

A fourth victim then reported his two vehicles had been burglarized during the early-morning hours of Sept. 9. A lanyard with keys was stolen out of one while the other had been rummaged through.

When confronted with the information and additional evidence, Reeves admitted to the burglaries, saying he was doing it to “survive.”

If convicted, Reeves could face more than 17 years in prison for all charges.