Albuquerque
Man being transported to MDC temporarily escapes custody
A man being transported to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Bernalillo County was able to escape police custody for a short time Wednesday afternoon before he was caught.
22-year-old Joseph Maestas was arrested by US Marshals Task Force officers Wednesday morning on four felony and two misdemeanor warrants. APD says he also had heroin on him when he was arrested after a short foot chase.
When he was taken to MDC around 12:45 p.m., he was able to slip his handcuffs to the front of his body while still in a transport van, according to APD.
Once the van arrived to the secure parking lot outside the jail, he fled past transport officers as they unloaded the inmates.
Maestas was able to climb over a 25-foot fence surrounding the parking lot and run into the mesa south of the jail.
Law enforcement officers were able to get him back into custody after APD says Maestas “gave up.” He was then taken to a hospital after complaining of a medical issue.
Just last week, officers statewide searched for two inmates who escaped Department of Corrections custody while en route from Santa Fe to Las Cruces. Both were arrested days later.
Murderer, 2nd inmate escape van in southeastern New Mexico; police come up empty on search in NW ABQ
UPDATE (1:02 a.m.): APD spokesman Daren DeAguero said the perimeter search was concluded as of 1 a.m. Friday and the suspects were not found.
DeAguero advised anyone who sees the suspects to contact police immediately.
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ALBUQUERQUE, NM — New Mexico State Police are searching for a convicted murderer and a violent inmate who escaped from a prisoner transport van in the Artesia area Wednesday night.
The Department of Corrections says 32-year-old Joseph Cruz and 29-year-old Lionel Clah escaped Wednesday night while en route from Roswell to Las Cruces. Continue reading
APD lieutenant who shot undercover officer in botched drug bust files for retirement
The Albuquerque Police Department lieutenant accused of shooting his own undercover officer in a botched drug bust in January 2015 filed for retirement Monday.
APD spokeswoman Celina Espinoza confirmed to KOB Lt. Greg Brachle purchased PERA retirement fund time and filed for retirement. Continue reading
Judge: Teen who killed family will remain in state custody until age 21
A Children’s Court judge says the teenager who killed five of his family members in 2013 will remain in state custody until he turns 21.
Nehemiah Griego, now 18, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death last October.
Griego was 15 when authorities said he shot and killed his parents and three younger siblings in their South Valley home in January 2013. Continue reading
Los Lunas man arrested for murder after allegedly cutting girlfriend’s throat
New Mexico State Police arrested a Los Lunas man Tuesday on a murder charge after he allegedly cut his girlfriend’s throat Monday.
State police were first called out to a home on JD Road in Tome Monday and found the woman dead.
Police arrested Michael Ray Rodriguez, 19, Tuesday on an open count of murder. Witnesses told state police Rodriguez was the last person seen with the victim before she was found dead.
State police said they found Rodriguez in his vehicle with what appeared to be blood stains on his clothes and shoes.
He has been booked into the Valencia County Detention Center on the murder charge. The victim’s name has not been released.
Police: Child found dead in NE Albuquerque home; suspect arrested
Albuquerque police found a 1-year-old child dead at a home in northeast Albuquerque Monday afternoon and arrested a man in connection to the death.
APD spokesman Tanner Tixier said officers and detectives were first called out to a home in the 300 block of Rhode Island NE around 3:30 p.m. Monday.
Rescuers were unable to revive the child, who was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Tixier.
Tixier said police arrested 28-year-old Jorge Ortega in connection with the child’s death. KOB cameras caught Ortega being arrested and taken from the scene.
Ortega was booked just after midnight Tuesday on one count of child abuse resulting in death. He is being held without bond at the Metropolitan Detention Center.
2nd suspect arrested in NYE beer pong murder
Albuquerque police on Friday arrested a second suspect in the New Year’s Eve murder of a man over a beer pong game.
Police arrested Luis Delgado, 23, Friday. He has been charged with aggravated battery with great bodily harm, an open charge of murder, conspiracy, tampering with evidence and aggravated burglary in the shooting death of Joray Chavez.
Police say Delgado’s accomplice, Nathan Ware, was at a party at an apartment on Estancia near Central and got into a fight with Chavez during a game of beer pong.
Police arrested Ware in early January.
After the fight, Ware left and came back with two friends, one of whom was allegedly Delgado. Police said Ware told his friends to shoot Chavez, who later died at the hospital.
A second person was shot during the fight.
Ware’s phone records indicated he had spoken or text messaged with Delgado four times around the time of the shooting. Though Delgado denied it, his phone records showed the same, according to a criminal complaint for his arrest.
He was arrested and is being held without bond at MDC on the charges and a probation violation.
Man arrested by US Marshals after daylong manhunt will again face 2014 murder charges
A 13th Judicial District judge decided Friday the man arrested by US Marshals last Saturday after a daylong manhunt in Albuquerque will be prosecuted on charges stemming from the 2014 murder of a man in Los Lunas.
George Bond again faces first-degree murder, shooting from a motor vehicle resulting in death, shooting from a motor vehicle involving injury, tampering with evidence and conspiracy charges in the July 2014 murder of 21-year-old Charles Davlin, according to District Attorney Lemuel Martinez.
Two others were also arrested in Sept. 2014 in connection to the murder.
Bond’s case was dismissed in November, but an order to reopen the case was granted January 29. When Bond failed to appear at the hearing on Feb. 1, a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Bond escaped federal agents and Albuquerque police when they tried to arrest him at a downtown Albuquerque post office Feb. 19.
He was arrested the next morning, along with six others, at an Albuquerque trailer park. US Marshals shot and killed 23-year-old Edgar Camacho-Alvarado in that incident.
In addition to this case, Bond also has several other past charges.
In September 2013, he was charged with breaking into a home and resisting arrest. The next month, he was charged with stealing a car and again evading arrest.
In July 2014 he was charged with stealing a car and aggravated fleeing an officer. Then, in January 2015, he was charged with drug possession and aggravated fleeing.
The trial for Bond’s murder charge is expected to start in November.
This story was originally published at KOB.com
NMSP report: Man killed pointed gun at marshal before he was shot
ALBUQUERQUE, NM — New Mexico State Police on Wednesday gave an updated account of the shooting by U.S. Marshals over the weekend that left a man dead whose family says was an innocent bystander.
The update from state police Wednesday says 23-year-old Edgar Camacho-Alvarado, the man shot and killed, was following a deputy U.S. Marshal near the entrance of the trailer park, where Marshals were looking for fugitive George Bond.
State police wrote in their update that the deputy marshal tried to talk to Camacho-Alvarado, who allegedly pulled out a gun and fled.
The state police report says the deputy marshal followed Camacho-Alvarado to near the steps of Trailer No. 26.
At that point, state police say Camacho-Alvarado pointed his alleged gun at the deputy marshal, who fired four times at Camacho-Alvarado.
Camacho-Alvarado was hit once. State police say the autopsy shows he was hit under his right armpit in the front of his body and that the bullet traveled back toward the bottom of his left shoulder.
State police wrote that other deputies went to the area, moved Camacho-Alvarado from the steps, handcuffed him and rendered aid.
State police said marshals found a .9mm handgun near Camacho-Alvarado’s body, which they put into a marshal’s vehicle.
Marshals then went into the trailer and searched it, though state police say marshals did not search Camacho-Alvarado’s room because it was locked.
State police write that marshals ordered the entire trailer park to shelter in place while they searched for Bond after the shooting. He and six others were eventually arrested. NMSP, Albuquerque Police Department officers and Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office deputies were all called in to assist after the shooting of Camacho-Alvarado, state police said.
State police said that its investigations bureau at some time obtained and executed a search warrant at Trailer No. 26, where Camacho-Alvarado lived.
They said that inside the trailer, they found a .380 caliber handgun without a serial number, a .380 magazine, empty rifle magazines and a loaded .9mm magazine “consistent with the weapon” found on Camacho-Alvarado’s body.
Camacho-Alvarado had had a felony warrant out for his arrest since Oct. 2014 after he violated probation by failing a drug test. He was convicted in 2013 of larceny over $2,500, tampering with evidence and possession of burglary tools.
The marshal who shot Camacho-Alvarado is Deputy U.S. Marshal Paul Hernandez, a 12-year veteran of the marshals.
State police say information and evidence is still being gathered. None of the state police report can be independently corroborated by KOB thus far because of rules that allow marshals and other law enforcement officers participating in marshals warrant services not to wear body cameras or release information from federal investigations.
Camacho-Alvarado’s family has also claimed he was shot at Trailer No. 23, while he was working on his truck, which differs from the state police report.
Camacho-Alvarado’s family intends to sue the federal government for his death, Albuquerque lawyer Bob Gorence said Tuesday. Gorence also claimed Camacho-Alvarado was shot “execution style.”
Family of man killed by Marshals in warrant service will file suit; attorney claims man was shot ‘execution style’
Albuquerque attorney Bob Gorence said Tuesday he will file a federal tort claim notice to sue the federal government over the shooting death of 23-year-old Edgar Camacho-Alvarado.
A news release from Gorence’s office Tuesday also alleges that the Office of Medical Investigator has deemed his death to be a homicide, though most killings of a person by another person are, and that federal agents shot Camacho-Alvarado “execution style.”
“Multiple eye witness accounts [say] that federal agents dragged Mr. Alvarado from the house after he had been shot in the back and, while gurgling and flailing his arms and, unable to respond to law enforcement commands, he was shot execution style in a coup de grace a final time in the back,” Gorence wrote in the news release.
Gorence wrote that if that is true, marshals would have violated Camacho-Alavarado’s Fourth Amendment rights.
His news release also says that agents were authorized a state search warrant that authorized only a daytime search warrant to try and find fugitive George Bond, and also alleges that the warrant was mistakenly issued for the wrong trailer lot.
Gorence has asked for all law enforcement reports relating to the incident, and goes on to talk about the differences in federal and state laws in being able to obtain information about law enforcement activities.
None of the claims in Gorence’s letter have been substantiated by law enforcement so far.
This story was originally published at KOB.com