New Mexico police on horseback detain sticky-fingered shoplifter

March 31 (UPI) -- In a scene where high-tech met the old West, New Mexico police on horseback corralled a sticky-fingered shoplifter after chasing him through the city streets, Albuquerque police reported Saturday. And, in a modern-day twist, the incident was caught on crystal clear, police body camera footage.

Albuquerque police chased down the suspect after he allegedly lifted $230 worth of goods from the local emporium, a west-side Walgreens. But rather than hearing the sounds of sirens and screeching tires, the alleged bad guy heard the galloping of APD officer Charles Breeden's horse across the concrete streets and sidewalks in sweaty, four-legged pursuit.

"Albuquerque police!" Breeden yells at the suspect, 30-year-old Mark Chacon. "You're being detained! Come on!"

Breeden said the horses had just gotten out of the trailer for their patrol shift for a pedestrian safety operation when they were alerted to Chacon, who was running, zig-zag, through the streets of an otherwise peaceful part of Albuquerque.

"Wasn't me!" Chacon yells when Breeden closes in. Officers, all on the backs of their equine partners, eventually surrounded Chacon in the middle of the road and wrangled him into custody -- using nothing more than horsepower.

"Very pleased with the officers," said Sgt. Mike Schroeder of the APD Horse Mounted Unit. "They're doing their job. They're doing it right. There's no question."

Schroeder warned future lawbreakers that horses will outlast them if they try to flee. "If you're gonna run from us, you're gonna go to jail tired," he said.

Chacon is facing a series of charges, including possession of stolen goods, running from police, and possession of drug paraphernalia.