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Albuquerque settles civil suit with undercover officer shot by own lieutenant for $6.5M
The city of Albuquerque has settled a federal civil lawsuit involving an undercover Albuquerque police detective who was shot by his own lieutenant in what the department called a botched drug bust in Jan. 2015 for $6.5 million.
The suit was originally filed last August. A U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge said Wednesday morning she had received notice of the settlement involving undercover officer Jacob Grant and his lieutenant, Greg Brachle, according to court records. Continue reading
Las Cruces settles officer rape lawsuit for $3M
The city of Las Cruces on Tuesday agreed to settle the case of a former Las Cruces Police Department intern who was raped by an officer inside his patrol car for $3 million.
Dianna Guererro was raped by former Officer Michael Garcia and sued the police department, saying the department had a culture of sexism and inappropriate behavior that allowed people like Garcia to be preyed upon. Continue reading
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
Gov. Martinez again vetoes money meant for Gallup Detox Center
For the third time in four years, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez has vetoed money meant specifically to help keep the doors of the Gallup Detox Center – McKinley County’s only detox and shelter program – open and helping the area’s people with alcoholism and substance abuse issues.
Read KOB.com’s special report on the Gallup Detox Center and the cyclical money problem it faces.
Monday, Gov. Martinez announced she had signed the $6.2 billion budget passed by the state legislature. She line-item vetoed many portions of the budget, but one of those vetoes was $200,000 put specifically into the budget for the Gallup Detox Center, also known as the Na’Nizhoozhi Center, Inc. (NCI). Continue reading
Gallup: A crisis in the cold
Gallup: A Crisis in the Cold from Blair Miller on Vimeo.
GALLUP, NM — Two U.S. senators are calling what is happening along Historic Route 66 in the sprawling high desert of western New Mexico a “public health crisis.”
People are coming weekly in throngs from the vast expanses of Native American land reserves surrounding the city of Gallup – a quiet town along Interstate 40 often used as a stopover for travelers headed west – to work, hang out and drink alcohol.
But many of them never make it back to where they came from.
Over the past two winters, 24 people have died outside in the cold. Their causes of death range from hypothermia to alcohol poisoning and natural causes, but people in and around the city often group the deaths together and refer to them as being caused by “exposure.”
All of the people who died were Native American. Continue reading
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
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