Police ID suspects in burglary and APD shooting

A man was arrested after allegedly stealing Amazon packages with a man police fatally shot outside a mobile home park in Southeast Albuquerque on Saturday.

Jeffrey Morales, 45, is charged with aggravated burglary, unlawful carrying of a deadly weapon, resisting, evading or obstructing an officer and aggravated fleeing an officer. He is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center. 

His family could not be reached for comment.

A criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court states Morales is from Albuquerque while other court records show he lives in Silver City.

On Sunday, police identified the man they fatally shot as James Litteral, 40, of Albuquerque. According to court records, in 2015, Litteral pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated battery and aggravated assault after stabbing a Macy's employee during an attempted shoplifting. He received probation and a suspended sentence.

On Saturday, the Albuquerque Police Department received a call of a suspicious person at an Amazon facility in the 11500 block of Cochiti, near Central.

During the call, employees told police there were people stealing packages and loading them onto a pickup truck, the complaint states. When officers arrived, the pickup was driving away, according to APD.

Officers followed the truck to Western Skies Drive where a man — later identified as Litteral — got out and ran. As officers tried contacting him, the other man — later identified as Morales — drove off, the complaint states.

Police said Litteral ran about a quarter-mile to a mobile home park on Singing Arrow Avenue when he tried carjacking a vehicle. An officer deployed their Taser before Litteral pulled out a firearm. The officer then "fired several rounds," fatally striking Litteral, APD spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos said in a news release on Saturday. 

A mile from the shooting, in the 12900 block of Central, is where police said they learned Morales had stopped and left a package outside his room before driving a half-mile away to the intersection of Figueroa and Skyline NE where he was arrested, according to the complaint. Inside the home, police said they found several Amazon packages.

Morales told police he did not know Litteral, who had asked him for a ride to the Amazon facility to pick up packages, the complaint states. After they arrived at Amazon, Morales told APD, he saw Litteral put several packages in the flatbed before telling Morales to drive, police said. Morales told police he fled because he was "freaking out." He also denied stealing the packages and putting them in the house, according to the complaint.

Gregory R.C. Hasman is a general assignment reporter and the Road Warrior. He can be reached at ghasman@abqjournal.com or 505-823-3820.