‘Controversial’ Las Cruces shopping cart incident leads to police speaking out

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The Las Cruces Police Department spoke out on what they’re calling a controversial shopping cart retrieval incident that happened earlier this month.

Police say on Tuesday, Aug. 6, a local business reclaimed its shopping cart from an individual and left the individual’s items on the ground on the 1600 block of South Valley Drive.

The incident was shared on social media and initial information indicated that the shopping cart was collected by Albertsons’ employees.

Police then spoke with management of all three Albertsons in the area. Police were told that the stores were not involved in the incident and they had not reclaimed any shopping carts.

However, after reviewing surveillance footage of the incident, police revisited management and discovered that one of the Albertsons stores did claim one of their shopping carts.

The video shows a white pickup truck arriving in a parking lot in the area of 1660 S. Valley Dr. Two men are then seen exiting the pickup truck and talking with the individual who was using the shopping cart.

The men are then seen loading an empty shopping cart onto the bed of the pickup truck and leaving the parking lot.

“Las Cruces Police have determined that no laws were broken when representatives of the Albertsons store retrieved their shopping cart. Police, however, have taken steps to ensure that all parties involved are fully informed about the specifics of the new ordinance including not reclaiming carts that are being used by community members without first contacting police,” police said.

As we have previously reported, Las Cruces City Council approved the shopping cart ordinance on Aug. 5, which intends to “eliminate the public nuisance and potential hazards created when shopping carts are removed from retail establishments.”

However, the ordinance does not require retail establishments to retrieve shopping carts directly from individuals nor should they attempt to, police said in a press release on Aug. 8, when announcing the ordinance.

The ordinance went into effect on Friday, Aug. 16, and police will begin enforcement on Oct. 16.

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