Albuquerque Journal editor on leave after arrest for shoplifting in Rio Rancho

Sept. 27—The editor-in-chief of the Albuquerque Journal is on leave after being arrested for shoplifting at a Walmart in Rio Rancho last month.

On August 24, Patrick Ethridge, 47, was charged with misdemeanor shoplifting. On Wednesday, Ethridge pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 days in jail. He is currently behind bars at the Sandoval County Detention Center.

Ethridge’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“I regret to announce that, effective immediately, I am granting our editor-in-chief, Patrick Ethridge, a mandatory leave of absence,” the magazine’s publisher, William P. Lang, said in a statement Friday. “We don’t know or understand all the details yet, but we were shocked to learn that he was charged with shoplifting and sentenced by a Justice of the Peace in Sandoval County, where he is currently serving ten days.”

Lang added: “At the Albuquerque Journal, we believe in transparency and holding people to a higher standard, including ourselves. We appreciate your support and concern and will provide more information as it becomes clear to us.”

Ethridge became executive editor and vice president of the journal on May 30, 2023.

With 26 years of newspaper experience, Ethridge’s last role before the Journal was as editor and publisher of the Beatrice Daily Sun in Nebraska.

On Aug. 24, Rio Rancho police responded to a shoplifting incident at the Walmart Supercenter at Unser and Southern, according to a criminal complaint filed in Magistrate Court. Store security told police that two boys “were behaving disorderly in the store, knocking over displays and hiding items.”

Police said officers identified the boys as Ethridge’s sons, found the family at the self-checkout and “informed them of the allegations.” The officers watched surveillance footage of the boys opening energy drinks, drinking them and putting them back on the shelf.

While reviewing the footage, officers noticed Ethridge “skipped scanning” the items, which the complaint says means pretending to scan them at the self-checkout without paying. Officers said Ethridge “will scan some items and not others.”

“The total of all unpaid merchandise, including the energy drinks the boys drank, was $104.20,” police said.

On Thursday, Ethridge’s attorney filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea, saying he did so “in a desire to end this matter as quickly as possible” and “despite the fact that he did not intentionally steal any items.”

In the motion, Ethridge stated that he was unaware that the items had not been scanned and “requested payment for the unscanned items.”

“The store refused to do so and instead filed shoplifting charges against Mr. Ethridge,” the motion reads.