Vandalism has caused a vending service to pull its machines out of about 20 UNM buildings.
UNM Police Department Lt. Michael Young said waves of vending machine break-ins hit the campus, but he could not say how many were broken into during a string of incidents that began in August.
"We're getting broken into about every two days," said Troy Barnhill, operations manager for Canteen Vending Services.
UNM has contracts with Canteen and Pepsi for vending services at the University.
After police reports concerning the incidents started coming in every day into the police station, Young said a detective was assigned to target vending machine thefts. The detective compiled reports and patrolled areas where break-ins had been happening, Young said.
"When we have a particular type of crime in an area, we focus patrols on that side," he said.
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An affidavit for arrest warrant and criminal complaint states an officer was dispatched to the cyber cafÇ area of the School of Architecture and Planning Building on Nov. 12 after UNMPD were called about two suspicious-looking people. One of the vending machines in the area had pry marks on it as wide as the pry bar Eugene Trujillo, 34, was carrying, according to the affidavit.
The officer requested a warrant for Trujillo's arrest on Nov. 16, according to the affidavit.
Police arrested Trujillo, who lives on Douglas MacArthur Road, and Paula A. Chavez, 33, a resident of Angel Road in Corrales, on Tuesday. The two, who are not UNM students, were charged with burglary residential and conspiracy in connection with the architecture incident, according to police. Trujillo was also charged with possession of burglary tools, according to court records.
Barnhill said students will be at a loss for vending machines in some areas of campus. Next year, prices will likely rise, he said.
About $39,000 in damage has been done to Canteen machines over the last year, not including $6,000 in monetary loss, Barnhill said.
"For a small-business owner, that's brutal," he said.
Locks and hinges were broken, preventing the machines from closing, said Robert Maestas, accounting manager for Pepsi.
Vendors say only money has been taken from the machines, and companies do not get reimbursed.
