A video shows the arrest of Zachary Babitz by Las Cruces police

LAS CRUCES, NM – New video shows the moment police found a man accused of a nationwide crime spree, including murder, in a Las Cruces dumpster.

Zachary Babitz was arrested after a car theft and robbery in Las Cruces.

It was about 6:30 p.m. on August 10 when police were called to a report of a robbery and subsequent carjacking in Las Cruces. The suspects were a man and a woman.

A few minutes after police combed the area, officers found the stolen car abandoned.

Police launched a drone, deployed on foot and kept an eye on a nearby canal while searching the area.

Eventually, Babitz was found in a dumpster. He claimed to be homeless and told police another man had thrown a gun into the dumpster where he was found.

“He threw something at her brother. It looked like a broken air rifle. I didn’t touch it, man.”

The man Babitz described matched his own description quite well.

“I swear to your husband! The guy was wearing a black shirt and had a tattoo on his back. I know I am too, but his back was tattooed.”

But the police didn’t believe his story. The officers fanned out and searched for the woman. They even searched another garbage container nearby. She was never found.

Officials released a surveillance photo of her. They believe she lost her braid while running.

“Here’s the ponytail, it looks like it’s braided, like someone either cut it off or it was just an appendage.”

Babitz is charged with robbery and auto theft in Las Cruces, and bank robbery in Albuquerque. In Santa Fe, he is charged with murder and robbery, and in federal courts, he is accused of using a weapon during a car theft.

If convicted, he faces a life sentence in prison.