Albuquerque
Police: Baby in car seat ejected from vehicle in crash on I-40; mom arrested after fleeing scene
A young child in a car seat was ejected from a white SUV in a crash near westbound I-40 and Wyoming Boulevard in Albuquerque Monday.
Police said the mother, 36-year-old Georgette Vigil, fled the scene of the crash, leaving the 18-month-old child behind.
The child was still strapped into the seat when officers arrived. The baby suffered several small cuts and was hospitalized but police said the child didn’t appear to have any major injuries.
Albuquerque police later found the vehicle and driver in the 500 block of Dallas SE.
APD spokesman Tanner Tixier said the preliminary investigation indicates Vigil lost control of her vehicle and hit the jersey barrier on westbound I-40. According to APD, Vigil fled the scene after the child was ejected.
Tixier said Vigil showed signs of intoxication when she was arrested and was transported to a local hospital with a cut to her head.
He said she is expected to be charged with felony child abuse when she is released.
Tixier also said a second child, approximately 3 years old, was in the vehicle during the crash. The child did not appear to be injured but was transported to a hospital for cautionary reasons.
A man, identified by police Tuesday as 34-year-old James Moquino, fled the vehicle when when the original crash happened and has not been found. Tixier said Tuesday he has an active felony warrant for his arrest, which is “more than likely the reason he fled.”
Vigil has no criminal record in New Mexico, according to state court records, but there is a pending child custody case.
On Tuesday, the Children, Youth and Families Department confirmed the 18-month-old child is currently in state custody. The other child is in the custody of a family member.
Police also on Tuesday released the 911 calls from the incident. We’ll have more on those coming up on KOB Eyewitness News 4 at 5, 6 and 6:30 p.m.
Arizona police arrest 2 in connection to ABQ woman’s murder in Phoenix suburb
Surprise, Arizona police arrested two men over the past two days in connection with the Feb. 9 murder of an Albuquerque woman and her friend in the Phoenix suburb.
75-year-old Ruth Schwed, of Albuquerque, and her friend, 70-year-old Barbara Leslie, were both shot and killed at Leslie’s home.
Friday, Surprise police arrested 24-year-old Andrew Thomas Lauro, of Goodyear, Arizona, for his involvement in the murder. He is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of armed robbery and one count of first-degree burglary.
Investigators also traveled to Michigan, where they arrested the second suspect, Montez Lavell Wright III, in Southfield.
Wright awaits extradition back to Arizona where he faces the same charges as Lauro.
Surprise police said the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and FBI were among the agencies that participated in the investigation.
Schwed’s family had offered a $15,000 reward to anyone with tips that led to a suspect’s capture and conviction.
Schwed’s family released the following statement Sunday evening:
“We applaud the work of the Surprise Police Department as they work to bring to justice those responsible for the murder of our mother and her friend. The arrests announced today are due to the diligence of the Surprise police department and multiple law enforcement agencies and those working with them. Our family continues to grieve the loss of our mother, grandmother, and sister. Our goal is to ensure that those responsible for these murders will never be able to harm anyone again.”
Bernalillo Co. Sheriff responds to 88-year-old man’s death at hands of deputies
Bernalillo County Sheriff Manny Gonzales on Monday responded to KOB’s story on Fidencio Duran, the 88-year-old South Valley man who died after being shot dozens of times with pepper balls during an incident last September.
Duran’s wife died September 14, 2015. The next day, Duran called his son and told him he was going for walk. Minutes later, a neighbor called law enforcement as Duran banged on her door, yelling and bleeding.
Bernalillo County deputies arrived, and according to their own reports, they called in a crisis negotiator and a Spanish-speaking deputy to translate. Duran was reported to be holding a 4-inch knife, refusing to let it go and asking deputies to kill him.
BCSO’s reports indicate they tried for 90 minutes to get Duran to put the knife down. But he was partially blind, deaf and distraught over the recent loss of wife.
Deputies devised a plan to get Duran to comply with their orders. At 10 a.m., they deployed the plan. They fired pepper balls at Duran and released a muzzled K9 to knock him over.
Medical records show that fall caused Duran’s femur and hip to shatter. Since Duran’s skin was old and thin, some of the pepper balls penetrated, leaving fragments of plastic inside. A medical report shows it took doctors days to remove all of the plastic.
One month later, Duran died. The Office of the Medical Investigator ruled the death a homicide.
Duran’s family’s lawyer filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Bernalillo County Sheriff Manny Gonzales and the department on behalf of Duran’s family.
Monday, Sheriff Gonzales sent a news release saying he “would like to express [his] deepest condolences to the family and friends” of Duran.
“The incident involving Mr. Duran, and his unintended death in the weeks that followed is currently being reviewed by the District Attorney’s Office,” Sheriff Gonzales wrote. “In the meantime, I have ordered the Internal Affairs Unit to conduct an investigation into this incident to better understand the totality of the events that transpired.”
This is a complex situation and as such, it will take time to complete a thorough inquiry. This Department takes the death of any person with whom we come into contact seriously, and Mr. Duran’s death is no exception,” the sheriff’s letter continued. “I am asking the public to be patient with the process as we await the outcome of the District Attorney’s review and the completion of the internal investigation.”
This story was originally published at KOB.com
Jury finds Albuquerque lawyer not guilty in 2012 shooting of homeless man at office
A jury on Monday found an Albuquerque lawyer accused of shooting a homeless man in the leg in his office in 2012 not guilty of all charges he faced related to the shooting.
The Bernalillo County jury found David “Chip” Venie not guilty of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and tampering with evidence charges.
David “Chip” Venie was back on trial last week after a judge declared a mistrial in his first case last summer after Venie represented himself but failed to follow court rules.
Prosecutors maintained throughout the trial there was no reason for him to shoot Stephen Biddinger, a homeless man, as he approached Venie’s office, located on Lomas at 8th Street.
In the 911 call, Venie said a man was trying to break into his office. Venie told the dispatcher he shot the man after repeatedly asking him to leave.
Biddinger testified the whole incident began when Venie made a disparaging remark toward him. Then, Biddinger says he followed Venie to his office to confront him.
The defense painted Biddinger as a career criminal and having been high on meth that morning.
An office worker at Venie’s law office testified Biddinger was on drugs and wanted to hurt people at the office that day before Venie shot him.
The jury deliberated most of the day Monday after the defense rested its case Friday.
Detective: Girlfriend seemed to encourage teen to kill family
A court hearing continued Tuesday to determine if an Albuquerque teenager who pleaded guilty to killing his family will be sentenced as an adult.
Prosecutors called two Bernalillo County deputies who interviewed Nehemiah Griego 24 hours after the murders to testify on Tuesday.
One detective says initially Griego claimed someone else killed his parents and three young siblings, but he later broke down and confessed. Both detectives talked about text messages exchanged on an app between Griego and his girlfriend, where they talked about killing both sets of their parents.
One of the deputies said he found firearms, large amounts of ammunition and bullet casings from the home.
The first detective who arrived to the scene described Griego as being expressionless while he interacted with deputies and told them that when he got home he had gone upstairs to find his family “deceased.”
Another detective said Griego told him that when he got home from a sleepover, he found his family dead.
Under cross-examination from the defense, one detective said it seemed Griego’s girlfriend was egging him on to kill.
The grandmother of Griego’s girlfriend said she first met Griego the day after the murders happened. She told the court that Griego’s girlfriend had asked if he could spend the night that night, at which time Griego told her his parents had been killed in an accident a month before.
The grandmother was concerned, she told the court, and told a church minister about what he had said. Church members went to the home and called BCSO, according to the grandmother’s testimony.
Feds ID man shot by Albuquerque police after attempted bank robbery
The man who was shot by Albuquerque police following an attempted bank robbery Monday has been identified.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, 47-year-old Darrel Salazar has been arrested on a criminal complaint charging him with attempted bank robbery.
Salazar was arrested Tuesday morning by the FBI and has made his initial appearance in federal court. He remains in federal custody pending a preliminary hearing Wednesday.
The criminal complaint states Salazar allegedly attempted to rob the branch of the Bank of America on Carlisle near Candelaria around 4 p.m. Monday.
Authorities say Salazar entered the bank and handed a teller a note demanding cash. After the teller did not comply with his commands, the complaint states Salazar brandished a handgun, pointed it at the teller and stated, “Read the note, read the note.”
However, the bank is equipped with a transparent, bullet-resistant barrier which separates employees behind the counter from the lobby. The complaint states the teller again refused to hand over money and Salazar responded, “Forget it,” and left empty-handed.
At this point, police were responding to reports of a bank robbery and arrived at the vicinity of Carlisle and Candelaria. The complaint states Salazar then ran behind a 7-Eleven location and took off his pants and sweatshirt.
As police gave verbal commands, they said Salazar pointed a handgun at an officer. APD confirmed Tuesday only one officer fired his weapon at Salazar.
FBI agents said when they told Salazar he was under arrest for bank robbery he said “ I didn’t rob no bank! I got scared and left!”
APD said that officer is a seven-year veteran of APD and that he had not been previously involved in any shootings. They said witnesses corroborated the story that Salazar had pointed a gun at the officer before he was shot.
Salazar was treated for injuries at UNM Hospital.
If convicted on the attempted bank robbery charge, Salazar faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
Salazar has been found guilty of two DWIs over the past 15 years and was found not guilty of another. He also has multiple traffic citations and was found guilty of evading an officer and failing to appear four times for one case.
Report on MDC guards’ macing and beating of inmate concludes use-of-force policy needed
An investigation into the macing and beating of a female inmate at Bernalillo County’s Metropolitan Detention Center in October found guards were not following an April directive from former MDC Chief Phillip Greer telling corrections officers not to use their mace except in dire situations.
Instead, the seven guards who were placed on temporary leavefor the incident, which was caught on video and obtained by KOB, said there were all following training and policy. Continue reading
Cellphone video unlikely to settle question of whether skate park shooting victim was armed
The city of Albuquerque and Albuquerque Police Department on Friday released two cellphone videos, primary police report and list of all officers who responded to the scene at Los Altos Skate Park March 22, when 17-year-old Jaquise Lewis was shot and killed.
The videos are not likely to definitively settle the question of whether Lewis was armed and therefore shot in self-defense as claimed by APD. That’s because the resolution is poor, the video is unsteady and the events unfolded from a distance after dark. Continue reading
Albuquerque police union president arrested on child abuse charges
The president of the Albuquerque Police Officers Association was released from jail on bond overnight after her arrest on child abuse charges Thursday.
Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. Aaron Williamson confirmed deputies started an investigation into APOA President Stephanie Lopez, 40, Wednesday and arrested her Thursday.
She faces child abuse without great bodily harm and bribery/intimidation/retaliation of a witness charges.
The criminal complaint for Lopez’s arrest says the alleged abuse happened Tuesday, when Lopez allegedly hit her 14-year-old daughter “repeatedly in the head and facial area.” APD was notified Wednesday.
The girl told school staff Tuesday her mother had hit her in the head and was taken to the school resource officer, who notified CYFD and APD. APD then referred the case to BCSO because of the conflict of interest.
A CYFD investigator briefly interviewed the girl, but the interview was stopped and the girl was taken to a safe house for a forensic interview.
The girl told investigators her mother, Lopez, got upset when the girl failed to tell her a utility shut off notice had been posted to their front door. Lopez allegedly hit her daughter “several times in the face causing significant bruising and pulled her hair before throwing her to the floor,” according to the criminal complaint.
When Lopez dropped her daughter off at school, the criminal complaint says she asked why her daughter “decided not to wear makeup today.” Lopez then allegedly told her daughter, “…think about what you say today at school; you won’t be with me; you won’t have your freedom. What happened to you was your fault.”
The criminal complaint says the daughter was scared to go home for fear of retaliation. It also says the daughter requested that nobody from Lopez’s side of the family be told about the situation “because they will lie for, and cover-up anything that Stephanie does.”
The girl said her younger brother and older sister witnessed the alleged abuse. The criminal complaint says the younger brother confirmed the girl’s account of the incident to the CYFD investigator.
Lopez told investigators should needed to speak to an attorney before speaking with detectives.
Albuquerque Police Department spokesman Tanner Tixier said that as of 8:45 p.m. Thursday, “no one” from APD had read the criminal complaint filed against her or had been briefed on the specifics of the case.
“Any further statements would not be appropriate until we have had the opportunity to thoroughly review the charges,” Tixier said.
Lopez is being held on a $5,000 cash-only bond at the Metropolitan Detention Center. She was booked just after 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
KOB has reached out to the APOA and city for comment, but has not received a reply yet.
This story was originally published at KOB.com
Judge orders release of Los Altos Skate Park shooting videos
A Bernalillo County District Court judge on Thursday ordered the city of Albuquerque to release the videos the Albuquerque Police Department says shows Jaquise Lewis being shot and killed during an altercation at the Los Altos Skate Park.
The city of Albuquerque will also have to pay Lewis’s mother up to $100 for each day since April 10 until the day the videos are released as statutory damages. Continue reading