Four charged in beauty store thefts totaling close to $50K in Albuquerque

Four people were charged this week after allegedly stealing nearly $50,000 worth of merchandise from beauty supply stores across Albuquerque over two years.

Renee Romero, 31, Michael Lovato, 42, Samuel Begel, 57, and Tiffany Ramsay, 28, are each charged with organized retail crime in connection with the thefts from Ulta Beauty locations. 

Begel and Ramsay have not yet been taken into custody, but warrants have been issued for their arrests. Romero and Lovato are behind bars at the Metropolitan Detention Center.

"Victimizing the same store multiple times is violent and distressing for the employees who work there and threatens community safety and well-being," states a pretrial detention motion filed in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court for Romero. "The court should not trust someone capable of this type of serial criminal conduct to have any respect for passive conditions of release."

Court records allege the group's retail theft scheme ran from 2024 to January 2026. 

Albuquerque police were first alerted to the string of thefts on June 30, 2024, after Lovato and an unidentified woman entered an Ulta Beauty in Southwest Albuquerque and left with nearly $900 worth of items, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. 

Two months later, Lovato went to two Ulta locations — in Southwest and Northeast Albuquerque — and stole over $3,000 worth of merchandise, the complaint states. He was arrested and charged with felony shoplifting and conspiracy.

No one from the group was seen again until late 2025, when Lovato entered the Ulta on Coors Bypass and stole roughly $300 worth of items, according to the complaint.

In October, Lovato and Romero entered an Ulta Beauty near Paseo del Norte and stole $1,000 worth of items, the complaint states. Ulta's loss prevention team was able to document the theft and captured surveillance footage of the vehicle the two left in, which was registered to Romero's mother.

It wasn't until Nov. 5 that the entire group was seen together at the Ulta Beauty in Northeast Albuquerque, near Paseo del Norte. Together, the four allegedly stole nearly $3,000 worth of items from the store, according to the complaint. 

Less than five days later, the four were seen together at the Ulta Beauty on Coors Bypass, where they reportedly took $2,000 worth of items, the complaint states.

Romero, according to the criminal complaint, stole $16,000 worth of items, the most of the group. Lovato stole $14,500 worth of goods, while Begel and Ramsay stole around $5,000 and $9,500 in merchandise, respectively, police say. 

Court records do not state why the group allegedly targeted Ulta Beauty stores or what they did with the stolen merchandise. Police were able to identify all four through video footage and still images from Ulta Beauty locations, the complaint states.

Nakayla McClelland covers crime and breaking news. Reach her at nmcclelland@abqjournal.com or at 505-823-3857.