2017 carjacking suspect repeatedly gets arrested, let off hook
Oct 31, 2024
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A man with a criminal history dating back to 2017, when he was shot by Albuquerque police during an attempted carjacking, has a warrant out for his arrest. Since that incident, he's been in front of a judge numerous times and keeps getting breaks.
Lee Brandenburg thanked Judge Stanley Whitaker back in 2020 during a parole violation hearing, but he continues to get into trouble. He's currently got a warrant out for his arrest. The Albuquerque Police Department says he burglarized a storage unit on Second Street in northwest Albuquerque and posted the items on his Facebook Market page.
KRQE first reported about Brandenburg in 2017, when he tried to carjack a woman outside a state building on San Antonio off of I-25. Brandenburg pointed a pellet gun at the victim and APD opened fire, hitting him and the victim.
Repeat offender sentenced for latest car theft case
She asked for justice. "I think he should pay for what he's done," said the victim in court.
Brandenburg was found guilty of car theft and attempted armed robbery. But he only spent a year and a half behind bars before getting paroled in 2020.
While on parole, he was caught with meth and burglary tools. Judge Whitaker called this violation a hiccup and let him off.
While on probation for the 2017 incident, he was arrested for trying to steal items from a storage facility on Academy in 2021. He didn't report this to his parole officer and received 15 months in jail for it.
However, Brandenburg took a plea deal for the storage theft and was given supervised probation for 18 months by Judge Lucy Solimon who gave him a warning. "If you fail to comply with your conditions of release or probation then you are facing the habitual offender time as well as the time for the underlying charge," said Solimon.
Brandenburg was charged with traffic violations in April of 2022, violating his probation again. The charges were dismissed because the officer or prosecutor failed to show up for court.