On September 28 and 29, the following news story was published by the Albuquerque Journal:
“The Albuquerque Journal’s editor in chief is on leave after pleading guilty to a shoplifting incident at a Walmart in Rio Rancho last month.
Patrick Ethridge, 47, was charged with misdemeanor shoplifting on Aug. 24.
Ethridge pleaded guilty on Wednesday morning and Rio Rancho Municipal Court Judge Michael Gibson immediately sentenced him to 90 days in jail, with 80 days suspended.
Ethridge is currently serving a 10-day sentence at the Sandoval County Detention Center. Under New Mexico law, a petty misdemeanor is punishable by up to six months in jail and/or a $500 fine.
Ethridge’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
“I am saddened to announce that, effective immediately, I am putting our Executive Editor, Patrick Ethridge, on a mandatory leave of absence,” Journal Publisher William P. Lang said in a statement Friday. “We don’t know or understand all the details yet, but were shocked to learn that he has been charged with shoplifting and sentenced by a Municipal Judge in Rio Rancho, where he is currently serving ten days.”
Lang added, “At the Albuquerque Journal, we believe in being transparent, and holding people to a higher standard, including ourselves. We appreciate your support and concern, and will report more information when it is clear to us.”
Ethridge became executive editor and vice president of the Journal on May 30, 2023.
With 26 years of experience with newspapers, Ethridge’s most recent 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 at the Walmart Supercenter at Unser and Southern, according to a criminal complaint filed in Municipal Court. Store security told police that two boys were “acting disorderly around the store, knocking over displays and concealing items.”
Police said officers identified the boys as Ethridge’s sons and found the family in the self-checkout area and “advised them of the allegations.” Officers watched surveillance video, which showed the boys opening energy drinks, drinking some and putting them on the shelf again.
While reviewing the footage, officers saw Ethridge “skip scanning” items — which means pretending to scan items through self-checkout without paying, according to the complaint. Officers said Ethridge would “scan some items and not others.”
“The sum of all unpaid merchandise, including the energy drinks the boys consumed, was $104.20,” according to police.
On Thursday, Ethridge’s attorney, filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea and said he had initially pleaded guilty “wanting to get this case over with as expeditiously as possible” and “in spite of the fact that he did not intentionally steal any items.”
In the motion, Ethridge said he didn’t know the items had not been scanned and “asked to pay for the unscanned items.”
“The store refused to do this and pressed charges of shoplifting against Mr. Ethridge instead,” according to the motion.”
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
This entire news story can be described as somewhat bizarre on a number of levels.
It was reported that Patrick Ethridge was shopping at a Walmart with his two sons on August 24 when Walmart surveillance video showed the sons were “acting disorderly” including opening energy drinks and then placing them back on the shelf. There is no indication that the sons were detained nor charged nor are their ages disclosed. When Ethridge went to check out the store, he supposedly failed to scan a number of the items. There is no reporting on exactly what was being stolen such as food versus clothing. When confronted by store security, he offered to pay for the items but Walmart security decline and he was arrested on a charge of shoplifting of $100 or less.
Under New Mexico law, shoplifting is a petty misdemeanor and is punishable by up to six months in jail and/or a $500 fine. Rarely are people jailed for a first offense, if at all, for shoplifting and they are usually placed on probation with a suspended sentence. Ethridge has no prior convictions and the offense is a “none violent crime”.
Ethridge is represented by prominent criminal defense attorney Todd Bullion who was co-counsel with criminal defense attorney Jason Bowles. The attorneys defended Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the armorer on the movie set of Rust who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in jail in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin on the Rust western movie set
When Ethridge pleaded guilty to the charge before Rio Rancho Municipal Court Judge Michael Gibson he was sentenced to a shocking 10 days for the petty misdemeanor. Judge Gibson is considered a no nonsense Judge who imposes stiff sentences.
According to the news report, Ethridge initially pleaded guilty “wanting to get this case over with as expeditiously as possible” and “in spite of the fact that he did not intentionally steal any items.” No details have been given as to exactly why no plea deal was struck for a suspended sentence nor why such a harsh sentence was imposed. Was a guilty plea entered to protect his sons to any degree? A Motion to Withdraw the guilty plea has now been filed while Ethridge sits in jail.
The biggest question that has been raised is how did the shoplifting arrest of the top editor of the Albuquerque Journal stay secret for so long? The arrest occurred on August 24, but it was not reported on by the Albuquerque Journal until September 28. Additionally, the local TV news stations have yet to post any news story on their internet web pages.
There is little doubt that the arrest and jailing of Patrick Ethridge is a major embarrassment to the Albuquerque Journal. The question that remains is will he step down or be terminated?