NEW MEXICO POLICE SUSPECT INSIDER STOLE COMPUTER EQUIPMENT FROM DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION OFFICE http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/44522.html

More than $40,000 worth of computer equipment missing from Cerrillos Road building

State police believe a former employee and another man stole more than $40,000 worth of computer equipment from a Department of Transportation office in Santa Fe nearly a month ago, according to court documents.

Police think the theft was an inside job because some of the items taken -- including 12 laptop computers, two flat screen monitors and a $2,000 digital camera -- were not in plain view at work stations, according to two search warrants filed Thursday in state District Court.

Supporting that theory was the fact that the burglars entered the building -- at 7315 Cerrillos Road -- using either keys or magnetic security cards, one of the warrants says.

The burglary occurred May 7, between 6:30 and 8 p.m., according to the documents.

"The burglary was committed by a suspect who had detailed knowledge of the building and contents in the work spaces of many of the offices," according to a warrant written by state police investigator Patrick Oakeley