The man suspected of using false identifications during a week-long crime spree in Las Cruces – in which he fraudulently purchased three vehicles and merchandise totaling nearly $90,000 – has been identified as a Rio Rancho man who is now charged with 37 felonies.
Ronald M. Murray Jr., 29, of the 2200 block of Lema Road SE in Rio Rancho, N.M., is charged with 10 counts of identity theft, 23 counts of forgery, three counts of fraud and one count of fraudulent use of a credit card.
A tipster recognized Murray as the suspect seen in surveillance photos released last month by the Las Cruces Police Department. The tipster contacted Crime Stoppers with the information and an LCPD detective verified that Murray is the suspect.
With help from the Rio Rancho Police Department, Murray was found to be in possession of a 2000 Nissan Frontier and a 2016 Harley Davidson motorcycle that were illegally obtained in June. Murray was also found to be in possession of a flash drive with more than 1,300 names from a University of New Mexico database. Detectives believe he used information from that database to create false identifications which he used to illegally purchase merchandise.
Murray is suspected of using fabricated driver’s licenses and bogus financial information that identified himself as “Derek Duane Mullner” and “Jason Meek” to commit several crimes:
- June 5: Using the “Mullner” ID, he obtained a loan and purchased a 2016 Harley Davidson motorcycle worth $27,000 from Barnett Harley Davidson in Las Cruces.
- June 6: Using the “Mullner” ID, he wrote a bogus $69 check at Toucan Market.
- June 9: Using the “Meek” ID, he obtained credit and purchased $3,888 worth of merchandise from Best Buy.
- June 10: Using the “Meek” ID, he obtained a loan and purchased a 2016 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited worth $52,000 from Jack Key Chrysler-Jeep in Las Cruces.
- June 11: Using the “Meek” ID, he purchased a 2000 Nissan Frontier worth $5,000 from Jack Key Nissan.
In all, Murray obtained $87,957 worth of merchandise using the bogus identifications. On June 11, a different man but most likely working in conjunction with Murray, used the “Jason Meek” ID but was unsuccessful in attempting to purchase a motorcycle from Barnett Harley Davidson.
Murray was arrested Aug. 4 and is currently being held at the Sandoval County Detention Center under a $100,000 cash-only bond. The investigation is ongoing and additional charges, including federal charges, are a possibility.
Information from Las Cruces Police