Albuquerque police looking for man who was shot at by officers last weekend
Apr. 4—Detectives are looking for an 18-year-old man who was shot at by officers last weekend during a confrontation in Northwest Albuquerque. Gilbert Gallegos, an Albuquerque Police Department spokesman, said Alijah Archuleta has been on the run since the March 30 police shooting in a neighborhood northeast of Coors and Fortuna. He said two officers are on paid administrative leave after ... Alijah Archuleta, an 18-year-old man who was shot at by Albuquerque police during a confrontation in Northwest Albuquerque, has been on the run since March 30. Two officers from the Albuquerque Police Department are on paid administrative leave after firing their weapons at Archulete and others. Nobody was injured in the incident, but ArchuletA was armed with a gun at the time. He is also facing charges related to an incident earlier that occurred in the same neighborhood. The next day, Archulea returned to the scene of the shooting and was charged with several felonies including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, shooting from a motor vehicle and child abuse.
Published : 4 weeks ago by Matthew Reisen, Albuquerque Journal, N.M. in General
Apr. 4—Detectives are looking for an 18-year-old man who was shot at by officers last weekend during a confrontation in Northwest Albuquerque.
Gilbert Gallegos, an Albuquerque Police Department spokesman, said Alijah Archuleta has been on the run since the March 30 police shooting in a neighborhood northeast of Coors and Fortuna.
He said two officers are on paid administrative leave after firing their weapons at Archuleta and others. Police said the group was driving away in a vehicle at the time police shot at them.
Nobody was injured, and Archuleta escaped.
Police have not said why officers fired at the group, but said Archuleta was armed with a gun at the time.
Archuleta is not charged in that incident, but he is facing charges from an incident a day earlier in the same neighborhood, where his girlfriend lives with their 1-year-old son.
Around 3:15 p.m. on March 29, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court, officers were called to a domestic dispute in the 700 block of 59th NW. A gunfire detection device recorded 10 gunshots in the area at the time.
Police said Archuleta's girlfriend told them the dispute turned into a drive-by shooting.
She told police she and Archuleta got into an argument while driving around with their child and she asked him to drop her and the baby off at home, according to the complaint. The girlfriend said Archuleta wouldn't let her out of the car and would accelerate if she tried to open the door.
Police said the girlfriend told them she was eventually able to get out of the car with their child and ran to her front door, banging on it to be let in. She said she was holding their baby at the front door when Archuleta fired a gun out of the car window as he drove away.
The girlfriend told police Archuleta turned around and drove by, firing the gun again, before leaving the area, according to the complaint.
Police said the girlfriend told them Archuleta "did not point the firearm directly at her but was afraid of (Archuleta) and what he might do."
Archuleta was charged with several felonies, including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, shooting from a motor vehicle and child abuse.
The next day, according to police, Archuleta returned.
Police said around 6 p.m. Saturday, officers were dispatched after a 911 call came in that Archuleta and others were making threats outside of the girlfriend's home. When police arrived, the suspects fled in a vehicle.
"As the vehicle was leaving, we know that at least two officers fired their firearms," Deputy Chief Cecily Barker said in a briefing Saturday night.
She said police found the vehicle, and "several" people fled from it, outside the Walmart at Coors and Interstate 40. She said one of those people, a man, was detained, and officers recovered a firearm.
Gallegos, the police spokesman, said Thursday that Archuleta was not the person detained.
Archuleta was last charged with a crime on Jan. 19, when he allegedly used a BB gun to shoot at the lights of the Puerto del Sol Golf Course, according to court records. Police found a fully loaded handgun and BB gun on Archuleta during his arrest.
Court records show Archuleta was placed in a diversion program on March 6 and ordered to complete a gun safety course. A hearing was set for June 6 to determine if Archuleta would have completed the course and, if so, the charges would be dismissed.
Topics: Crime