By T.J. Wilham, Journal Staff Writer
An off-duty Albuquerque police officer was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving after police say he wrecked his take-home patrol car and got his brother to claim responsibility.
When other officers found the wrecked car in Northeast Albuquerque early Thursday morning, officer Brandon Wilcox's younger brother, Bryan, was in the driver's seat, according to a police report.
Bryan Wilcox, 19, claimed he had stolen his brother's police car to pull a prank on some friends at a party.
Police say they believe Brandon Wilcox had called his brother after the crash and got him to take him home. Bryan Wilcox then went back to the wrecked police car and said he was driving it.
Officers went to Brandon Wilcox's home, where it took them 10 to 15 minutes to get him out of bed.
Wilcox, 25, performed "poorly" on a series of field sobriety tests, and his blood-alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit of 0.08, according to court records. He was booked into the West Side jail on a charge of aggravated DWI.
Police said Wilcox earlier went to a bar, had made it home but then went out again before the crash occurred.
"I am extremely disappointed," Police Chief Ray Schultz said Thursday. "This shows that DWI is a problem that plagues this entire community including law enforcement."
Schultz has placed Wilcox on administrative leave with pay pending the outcome of an internal investigation.
Additional charges against both brothers could be filed, police said.
Wilcox, a patrolman and a four-year member of the department, didn't return phone calls Thursday.
Schultz said he has "zero tolerance" for DWI and pointed out that he has fired every officer that has been arrested for drunken driving under his command. He would not say what action would be taken against Wilcox.
"We will do what we have to do," Schultz said. "I think everyone knows how I feel about DWI."
According to police reports and court records:
Police were called about 1 a.m. to the crash site in the 5500 block of Comanche NE after Wilcox's brother called 911 and reported that he had wrecked his brother's police car.
He said his brother didn't know that he had the car, had been drinking elsewhere and was at his house passed out.
The car had hit a curb, spun across Comanche, hit another curb and ended up off the roadway. The squad car had minor damage.
Police were suspicious of Bryan Wilcox's story and say he eventually admitted he wasn't the driver.
Officers went to Brandon Wilcox's home a few blocks from the wreck, but neither his girlfriend nor police could wake Wilcox, and paramedics were called.
Ten to 15 minutes later, before the paramedics arrived, Wilcox woke up. He had problems standing, had to be held up by other officers, had slurred speech, a "strong odor of alcohol on his breath" and stumbled as he made his way out of the home.
Wilcox was released to a police sergeant after being booked into the jail.
That sergeant drove Wilcox home, where he took possession of Wilcox's duty weapon, shotgun and badge.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Thursday, March 2, 2006
APD Targets 2 In Evidence Case
By T.J. Wilham, Albuquerque Journal; Journal Staff Writer
The Albuquerque Police Department is investigating two officers to determine whether one— or both— helped cover up missing property from the evidence room while it was being investigated by the state Attorney General's Office.
Although neither officer has been charged, Police Chief Ray Schultz said he plans to issue "harsh" punishment in the case.
The two officers, who were partners, are blaming each other for allowing two civilian evidence room clerks to have access to property logs.
Attorneys for officers Robbin Burge and Scott Lopez say their clients are innocent.
The internal investigation, which started last fall, is the last of many evidence room probes. It started after the city's Independent Review Office noticed discrepancies in evidence room logs.
Schultz said he is awaiting the results of a lie-detector test for Burge.
A temporary restraining order prevents APD from giving her a lie-detector test, and a hearing on the restraining order is scheduled next week. Lopez already took a lie-detector test, which his attorney said he passed.
"We are in a situation where this is someone's word against someone else's word," Schultz said. "There are some questions that still need to be answered. That's why I need the (lie-detector test). ... Based on what I know now, there will be discipline. ... It will be harsh."
According to court records and police reports obtained by the Journal, Burge claims that Lopez was having a relationship with an evidence room clerk who was a target of the attorney general's investigation.
That investigation determined that more than $58,000 was missing from the evidence room and that criminal conduct had occurred. However, no one was prosecuted in connection with the missing evidence.
When questioned, both detectives said the other was responsible for allowing the clerks access to the logs.
Both clerks, who were civilians, were terminated from the department for other reasons.
Rob Perry, who is representing Burge, said his client was a primary source in the IRO's investigation.
After she came forward with the information about her partner's involvement, APD launched an investigation into her, Perry said.
"We don't have a problem taking a fair (lie-detector test). We do have a problem taking theirs," Perry said. "It's concerning they even want to do one given all of the evidence against my client's accuser."
Lopez's attorney Peter Schoenburg said his client has done nothing wrong.
Both officers have remained on duty during the investigation. Burge remains a detective, and Lopez has been promoted to sergeant.
"This investigation is the last thing that needs to be done with the evidence room," Schultz said. "This is us making sure that everything with the evidence room is dealt with.
"I am doing everything I said I was going to do. We are addressing everything and are not going to brush anything under the carpet."
The Albuquerque Police Department is investigating two officers to determine whether one— or both— helped cover up missing property from the evidence room while it was being investigated by the state Attorney General's Office.
Although neither officer has been charged, Police Chief Ray Schultz said he plans to issue "harsh" punishment in the case.
The two officers, who were partners, are blaming each other for allowing two civilian evidence room clerks to have access to property logs.
Attorneys for officers Robbin Burge and Scott Lopez say their clients are innocent.
The internal investigation, which started last fall, is the last of many evidence room probes. It started after the city's Independent Review Office noticed discrepancies in evidence room logs.
Schultz said he is awaiting the results of a lie-detector test for Burge.
A temporary restraining order prevents APD from giving her a lie-detector test, and a hearing on the restraining order is scheduled next week. Lopez already took a lie-detector test, which his attorney said he passed.
"We are in a situation where this is someone's word against someone else's word," Schultz said. "There are some questions that still need to be answered. That's why I need the (lie-detector test). ... Based on what I know now, there will be discipline. ... It will be harsh."
According to court records and police reports obtained by the Journal, Burge claims that Lopez was having a relationship with an evidence room clerk who was a target of the attorney general's investigation.
That investigation determined that more than $58,000 was missing from the evidence room and that criminal conduct had occurred. However, no one was prosecuted in connection with the missing evidence.
When questioned, both detectives said the other was responsible for allowing the clerks access to the logs.
Both clerks, who were civilians, were terminated from the department for other reasons.
Rob Perry, who is representing Burge, said his client was a primary source in the IRO's investigation.
After she came forward with the information about her partner's involvement, APD launched an investigation into her, Perry said.
"We don't have a problem taking a fair (lie-detector test). We do have a problem taking theirs," Perry said. "It's concerning they even want to do one given all of the evidence against my client's accuser."
Lopez's attorney Peter Schoenburg said his client has done nothing wrong.
Both officers have remained on duty during the investigation. Burge remains a detective, and Lopez has been promoted to sergeant.
"This investigation is the last thing that needs to be done with the evidence room," Schultz said. "This is us making sure that everything with the evidence room is dealt with.
"I am doing everything I said I was going to do. We are addressing everything and are not going to brush anything under the carpet."
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Black Panthers Stress Social Aims; Members Address Crowd at UNM
By Lloyd Jojola, Journal Staff Writer
On the heels of the civil rights movement, the Watts riots, the slaying of Malcolm X and with the Vietnam War as a backdrop, the Black Panther Party emerged in America.
"We were founded not on a street corner but on a college campus," David Hilliard, a founding member of the Black Panthers, told a crowd of a few hundred people at the University of New Mexico on Saturday. "So we've always felt very much at home among people from college campuses, where the free flow of ideas can be discussed."
Hilliard, who also served as the party's chief of staff, was part of a panel discussion titled "Origins of the Black Panther Party." The event is part of a program to mark the 40th anniversary of the organization. The panel also featured Ericka Huggins, who was director of the Black Panther Party school (The Oakland Learning Center); Elaine Brown, the only woman to chair the party; and Fredrika Newton, a party member and wife of the late Huey P. Newton.
It was Newton and Bobby Seale who in 1966 launched the organization in Oakland.
The group is unfortunately identified more with militancy than with the social changes it sought, Hilliard said.
"It's important to set the tenet of our movement because it's so misunderstood," he said. "What is really remembered is the militancy without any other characteristics. We're frozen in sensationalist imagery of leather jackets and guns.
"We don't deny that."
In its nascent stage, it was known as the Black Panther Party for Self Defense. The group saw itself as a "revolutionary action movement," he said, and campaigns to end police brutality and the murder of black people were points in their platform.
But other program points advocated for such things as universal health care, decent education and housing.
"That has been totally written out of the history," Hilliard said. "The only thing that remains is the militancy. To set the record straight, we were not a 'black power' organization; not in that traditional sense. Not in the sense that we were separatists."
Hilliard said the group worked alongside such leaders as César Chávez and Dolores Huerta and for people who fought for gay rights.
"We're here to try to help introduce our particular style of work to students who are seeking new movements," Hilliard said toward the end of his comments. "We challenge you to draw on our Black Panther Party because there are important lessons to be learned from our movement and we'd like to do that by having a curriculum here at this university."
Hilliard raised the idea of partnering with the university to investigate how the federal government tried to undermine the party.
"There's never been one accounting about what the FBI did to our Black Panther Party, so we think that this is a good time to make that happen," he said.
Huggins was an 18-year-old student at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania when she read a magazine article about a young African-American man— Newton— who stood accused of killing a policeman.
The reading was predictable; the photo, appalling, she said.
"The picture was of this young man strapped to a hospital gurney with a bullet wound in his stomach with a seemingly huge, to me at that time, European American police officer in full uniform laughing into the camera.
"I studied that picture for quite some time. I didn't even have tears for it, I was so appalled."
Huggins traveled across the country and joined the Southern California chapter.
"We were about local change, and this is what scared the government into minimizing our principles and calling us racists," Huggins said. "We were about redistribution of the wealth as an equal."
On the heels of the civil rights movement, the Watts riots, the slaying of Malcolm X and with the Vietnam War as a backdrop, the Black Panther Party emerged in America.
"We were founded not on a street corner but on a college campus," David Hilliard, a founding member of the Black Panthers, told a crowd of a few hundred people at the University of New Mexico on Saturday. "So we've always felt very much at home among people from college campuses, where the free flow of ideas can be discussed."
Hilliard, who also served as the party's chief of staff, was part of a panel discussion titled "Origins of the Black Panther Party." The event is part of a program to mark the 40th anniversary of the organization. The panel also featured Ericka Huggins, who was director of the Black Panther Party school (The Oakland Learning Center); Elaine Brown, the only woman to chair the party; and Fredrika Newton, a party member and wife of the late Huey P. Newton.
It was Newton and Bobby Seale who in 1966 launched the organization in Oakland.
The group is unfortunately identified more with militancy than with the social changes it sought, Hilliard said.
"It's important to set the tenet of our movement because it's so misunderstood," he said. "What is really remembered is the militancy without any other characteristics. We're frozen in sensationalist imagery of leather jackets and guns.
"We don't deny that."
In its nascent stage, it was known as the Black Panther Party for Self Defense. The group saw itself as a "revolutionary action movement," he said, and campaigns to end police brutality and the murder of black people were points in their platform.
But other program points advocated for such things as universal health care, decent education and housing.
"That has been totally written out of the history," Hilliard said. "The only thing that remains is the militancy. To set the record straight, we were not a 'black power' organization; not in that traditional sense. Not in the sense that we were separatists."
Hilliard said the group worked alongside such leaders as César Chávez and Dolores Huerta and for people who fought for gay rights.
"We're here to try to help introduce our particular style of work to students who are seeking new movements," Hilliard said toward the end of his comments. "We challenge you to draw on our Black Panther Party because there are important lessons to be learned from our movement and we'd like to do that by having a curriculum here at this university."
Hilliard raised the idea of partnering with the university to investigate how the federal government tried to undermine the party.
"There's never been one accounting about what the FBI did to our Black Panther Party, so we think that this is a good time to make that happen," he said.
Huggins was an 18-year-old student at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania when she read a magazine article about a young African-American man— Newton— who stood accused of killing a policeman.
The reading was predictable; the photo, appalling, she said.
"The picture was of this young man strapped to a hospital gurney with a bullet wound in his stomach with a seemingly huge, to me at that time, European American police officer in full uniform laughing into the camera.
"I studied that picture for quite some time. I didn't even have tears for it, I was so appalled."
Huggins traveled across the country and joined the Southern California chapter.
"We were about local change, and this is what scared the government into minimizing our principles and calling us racists," Huggins said. "We were about redistribution of the wealth as an equal."
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Ex-Officer Guilty on 10 Counts
Saturday, January 28, 2006
By Scott Sandlin, Journal Staff Writer
Former Albuquerque police officer Christopher Chase faces up to 15 years in prison after being found guilty of criminal sexual penetration, kidnapping and other crimes.
Chase entered a plea Friday in which he acknowledged he likely would be convicted at trial. District Judge Denise Barela Shepherd then found him guilty of nine felony charges and one misdemeanor.
She scheduled sentencing for March 30.
The plea brings to a close a costly chapter for the city, which has been a defendant in lawsuits filed by the former officer's victims.
One case went to trial last February in federal court and resulted in a jury verdict of $943,380 plus $150,000 in legal fees. The city has appealed to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Another case involving a former prostitute was settled for $300,000 in November, despite Mayor Martin Chávez's policy of not settling cases involving police officers.
Three remaining civil lawsuits in which women claimed they had been sexually assaulted by Chase were resolved by Thursday with a $600,000 settlement, their attorney said.
The legal cases against Chase stem from traffic stops that started in September 2001 where he sexually molested, beat or kidnapped at least 11 motorists.
A subdued Chase, 31, appeared before Shepherd and answered "Yes ma'am" and "No ma'am" to questions about the individual charges.
His wife, mother-in-law and two young daughters watched. So did family members of one victim, who wept as Chase entered the plea to counts involving the then-16-year-old girl stopped by Chase and fondled in 2003.
Assistant District Attorney Michael Fricke said the plea was a good outcome for the victims, who won't have to testify, and for the public.
Defense attorney Jacquelyn Robins said her client faces less time than if he had gone to trial and been convicted.
There could have been at least three and possibly six trials.
Shepherd ordered a presentence report and said Chase would be remanded to the community confinement program pending sentencing.
That means he can continue working at the construction company where he supervises 30 employees, putting in some 70 hours a week, according to Robins. She said Chase wanted to keep working so he can provide for his family before he goes to prison.
The charges in the plea agreement include criminal sexual penetration, kidnapping, criminal sexual contact of a minor by a person in a position of authority and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
Fricke said he will argue for the maximum sentence.
Robins said she will ask that he be sentenced to nine years, with as much probation as the statute will permit.
The plea agreement may have been encouraged by an FBI investigation that could have led to federal charges of civil rights violations.
The civil lawsuits began mounting soon after the criminal indictment was handed up in June 2003. Chase was fired by APD shortly thereafter.
Attorney Brad Hall said he settled cases filed on behalf of three women on Thursday for a total of $600,000.
"I think we could have done better at trial, but they wanted to get this behind them," Hall said.
He said he believes the city has paid nearly $800,000 in legal fees in the collective cases involving Chase.
By Scott Sandlin, Journal Staff Writer
Former Albuquerque police officer Christopher Chase faces up to 15 years in prison after being found guilty of criminal sexual penetration, kidnapping and other crimes.
Chase entered a plea Friday in which he acknowledged he likely would be convicted at trial. District Judge Denise Barela Shepherd then found him guilty of nine felony charges and one misdemeanor.
She scheduled sentencing for March 30.
The plea brings to a close a costly chapter for the city, which has been a defendant in lawsuits filed by the former officer's victims.
One case went to trial last February in federal court and resulted in a jury verdict of $943,380 plus $150,000 in legal fees. The city has appealed to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Another case involving a former prostitute was settled for $300,000 in November, despite Mayor Martin Chávez's policy of not settling cases involving police officers.
Three remaining civil lawsuits in which women claimed they had been sexually assaulted by Chase were resolved by Thursday with a $600,000 settlement, their attorney said.
The legal cases against Chase stem from traffic stops that started in September 2001 where he sexually molested, beat or kidnapped at least 11 motorists.
A subdued Chase, 31, appeared before Shepherd and answered "Yes ma'am" and "No ma'am" to questions about the individual charges.
His wife, mother-in-law and two young daughters watched. So did family members of one victim, who wept as Chase entered the plea to counts involving the then-16-year-old girl stopped by Chase and fondled in 2003.
Assistant District Attorney Michael Fricke said the plea was a good outcome for the victims, who won't have to testify, and for the public.
Defense attorney Jacquelyn Robins said her client faces less time than if he had gone to trial and been convicted.
There could have been at least three and possibly six trials.
Shepherd ordered a presentence report and said Chase would be remanded to the community confinement program pending sentencing.
That means he can continue working at the construction company where he supervises 30 employees, putting in some 70 hours a week, according to Robins. She said Chase wanted to keep working so he can provide for his family before he goes to prison.
The charges in the plea agreement include criminal sexual penetration, kidnapping, criminal sexual contact of a minor by a person in a position of authority and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
Fricke said he will argue for the maximum sentence.
Robins said she will ask that he be sentenced to nine years, with as much probation as the statute will permit.
The plea agreement may have been encouraged by an FBI investigation that could have led to federal charges of civil rights violations.
The civil lawsuits began mounting soon after the criminal indictment was handed up in June 2003. Chase was fired by APD shortly thereafter.
Attorney Brad Hall said he settled cases filed on behalf of three women on Thursday for a total of $600,000.
"I think we could have done better at trial, but they wanted to get this behind them," Hall said.
He said he believes the city has paid nearly $800,000 in legal fees in the collective cases involving Chase.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Ex-APD cop is to plead guilty today
By Joline Gutierrez Krueger, Albuquerque Tribune
Thursday, January 26, 2006
A former Albuquerque police officer was expected to plead guilty today to sexual assault charges involving women he encountered on bogus traffic stops.
Christopher Chase, who is also named in six lawsuits that have cost the city more than $1.4 million in claims, could face up to 15 years imprisonment under the plea agreement.
Had he been found guilty at trial, his sentence could have been more than 140 years.
Chase, 31, was a patrolman based in the Foothills area command but was fired after he was indicted June 2003 on 32 charges that included five counts of rape and two counts of criminal sexual contact.
THE LAWSUITS
Teenage boy (assault allegations): Federal jury awarded $17,000 in December 2004.
Woman, 34: Federal jury awarded $943,380 in February 2005 plus $150,000 in attorney fees in April 2005. Case is under appeal.
Woman, 18: Case settled in state District Court for $300,000 in November 2005.
Woman, 42: Pending in federal court.
Teenage girl No. 1: Pending in federal court.
Teenage girl No. 2: Pending in federal court.
Under the plea agreement, scheduled to be entered this morning before state District Judge Denise Barela Shepherd, Chase will plead guilty to four counts of rape, three counts of kidnapping, two counts of criminal sexual contact and one count of aggravated battery.
Assistant District Attorney Michael Fricke said the plea agreement still includes every victim of a sexual assault. The charges also involve a teenage male relative of a high-ranking law enforcement official whom Chase is accused of beating with a flashlight and assaulting with a gun during a traffic stop in September 2002.
Prosecutors say Chase randomly selected vehicles to pull over, then forced himself on the motorist, most of whom had not committed any traffic offense. The incidents occurred while Chase was either on- or off-duty, and while he was using his marked police car.
One female victim was stopped twice - in September 2001 and again in February 2002 - and raped both times. Afterward, the woman said Chase washed her hands with a sanitizer to hide any traces of his assault, a criminal complaint states.
Two of the victims were high school girls who were driving with several male companions in January 2003 when Chase stopped their car and took the girls one by one to his squad car to fondle, the complaint states.
Fricke said he did not know why Chase decided to accept the plea deal now.
"Negotiations have a will of their own," he said.
Chase's attorney, Jacquelyn Robins, did not return a call to her office.
Chase was a 1999 graduate of the 80th Cadet Class of the Albuquerque Police Academy. His wife, Darla, has remained by his side at nearly every court appearance during the past two years. They have two children.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
A former Albuquerque police officer was expected to plead guilty today to sexual assault charges involving women he encountered on bogus traffic stops.
Christopher Chase, who is also named in six lawsuits that have cost the city more than $1.4 million in claims, could face up to 15 years imprisonment under the plea agreement.
Had he been found guilty at trial, his sentence could have been more than 140 years.
Chase, 31, was a patrolman based in the Foothills area command but was fired after he was indicted June 2003 on 32 charges that included five counts of rape and two counts of criminal sexual contact.
THE LAWSUITS
Teenage boy (assault allegations): Federal jury awarded $17,000 in December 2004.
Woman, 34: Federal jury awarded $943,380 in February 2005 plus $150,000 in attorney fees in April 2005. Case is under appeal.
Woman, 18: Case settled in state District Court for $300,000 in November 2005.
Woman, 42: Pending in federal court.
Teenage girl No. 1: Pending in federal court.
Teenage girl No. 2: Pending in federal court.
Under the plea agreement, scheduled to be entered this morning before state District Judge Denise Barela Shepherd, Chase will plead guilty to four counts of rape, three counts of kidnapping, two counts of criminal sexual contact and one count of aggravated battery.
Assistant District Attorney Michael Fricke said the plea agreement still includes every victim of a sexual assault. The charges also involve a teenage male relative of a high-ranking law enforcement official whom Chase is accused of beating with a flashlight and assaulting with a gun during a traffic stop in September 2002.
Prosecutors say Chase randomly selected vehicles to pull over, then forced himself on the motorist, most of whom had not committed any traffic offense. The incidents occurred while Chase was either on- or off-duty, and while he was using his marked police car.
One female victim was stopped twice - in September 2001 and again in February 2002 - and raped both times. Afterward, the woman said Chase washed her hands with a sanitizer to hide any traces of his assault, a criminal complaint states.
Two of the victims were high school girls who were driving with several male companions in January 2003 when Chase stopped their car and took the girls one by one to his squad car to fondle, the complaint states.
Fricke said he did not know why Chase decided to accept the plea deal now.
"Negotiations have a will of their own," he said.
Chase's attorney, Jacquelyn Robins, did not return a call to her office.
Chase was a 1999 graduate of the 80th Cadet Class of the Albuquerque Police Academy. His wife, Darla, has remained by his side at nearly every court appearance during the past two years. They have two children.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Ex-Cop Arrested on Drug Charges
By Jeff Proctor, Journal Staff Writer
A former Albuquerque Police Department officer was arrested Tuesday on narcotics trafficking charges after the man's son inadvertently led authorities to his home.
Robert Estrada Jr., 48, is charged with two counts of trafficking methamphetamine and marijuana— a second-degree felony, said John Walsh, an APD spokesman.
Estrada, a 20-year APD veteran, retired more than five years ago, Walsh said.
"What this shows is that when you have a cross-cut of your police department membership and former membership, we suffer from the same ills as the greater society," Walsh said.
Police happened upon about 4 pounds of marijuana, 30 grams of meth, about $500 in cash and a wide array of paraphernalia at Estrada's home in the 5100 block of Lomas de Atrisco NW, he said.
Authorities were led to his home after police responded to a domestic dispute involving his 22-year-old son, Robert Estrada III, in the 2500 block of Aspen NE, he said.
A woman had apparently brandished a firearm at Estrada III, who took the gun and fled to his father's home, Walsh said.
Police found Estrada III at the home and arrested him, he said. Officers entered the home with a search warrant to find the stolen gun.
The elder Estrada was released Wednesday from the Metropolitan Detention Center after posting a $30,000 bond, jail records show. Estrada III faces numerous charges and his bond has been set at $100,000 at the West Side jail.
A former Albuquerque Police Department officer was arrested Tuesday on narcotics trafficking charges after the man's son inadvertently led authorities to his home.
Robert Estrada Jr., 48, is charged with two counts of trafficking methamphetamine and marijuana— a second-degree felony, said John Walsh, an APD spokesman.
Estrada, a 20-year APD veteran, retired more than five years ago, Walsh said.
"What this shows is that when you have a cross-cut of your police department membership and former membership, we suffer from the same ills as the greater society," Walsh said.
Police happened upon about 4 pounds of marijuana, 30 grams of meth, about $500 in cash and a wide array of paraphernalia at Estrada's home in the 5100 block of Lomas de Atrisco NW, he said.
Authorities were led to his home after police responded to a domestic dispute involving his 22-year-old son, Robert Estrada III, in the 2500 block of Aspen NE, he said.
A woman had apparently brandished a firearm at Estrada III, who took the gun and fled to his father's home, Walsh said.
Police found Estrada III at the home and arrested him, he said. Officers entered the home with a search warrant to find the stolen gun.
The elder Estrada was released Wednesday from the Metropolitan Detention Center after posting a $30,000 bond, jail records show. Estrada III faces numerous charges and his bond has been set at $100,000 at the West Side jail.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
APD: Internet, phone are lures 3 arrests highlight risks, cops say
By Maggie Shepard, Albuquerque tribune
Three times this week, police have arrested men on charges of rape and attempted rape - all stemming from contacts the men made with young women and girls online and through telephone dating services.
One of the arrests resulted from the Attorney General's Office's work on a manual aimed at helping parents and teens avoid inappropriate contacts on the Internet.
An investigator was asked to enter an online chat room and get fresh examples of what happens at such sites for use in the office's release of the new safety manual. The recording was to be used in a press conference today.
The female investigator, posing as a 14-year-old girl, went online Monday afternoon and encountered a man who subsequently used a digital video camera to send her video of himself masturbating. Later, he asked if she wanted to meet for physical sex.
The investigator agreed, and met the man Tuesday morning at Mary Fox Park on Roma Avenue Northwest.
Looking as young as she could, the investigator showed up at the 10 a.m. meeting and was met by a man who called her "Michelle," the name he'd been led to believe was hers, according to the complaint.
Police then arrested Matthew Ward, 40, of the 3400 block of Lisa Road Southwest. He listed his wife and mother as his emergency contacts when he was booked into jail on charges of attempted criminal sexual penetration, attempted criminal sexual contact with a minor and child luring, according to court documents.
"One of the most dangerous plagues that hits our communities is the ease with which predators have access to our children and our personal lives through technology," Albuquerque police spokesman John Walsh said.
Also arrested on Tuesday was Daniel Maldonado, 22, of the 2300 block of Williams Street Southeast.
In that case, Albuquerque police say Maldonado used a telephone dating service to invite a woman and her aunt to his house Monday night.
Once at the home, the woman told police Maldonado sexually assaulted her then hit her over the head several times with a bottle when she tried to leave the house, according to the complaint.
The woman was treated at the University of New Mexico Hospital for injuries.
Maldonado was arrested on charges of criminal sexual penetration, kidnapping and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
Those two arrests come one week after the arrest of an Albuquerque man on charges that he had five sexual encounters with a 15-year-old girl after weeks of dating through an online chatting service.
Thomas Tafoya, 24, faces five counts of criminal sexual penetration of a minor.
In May 2005, the same chat service that introduced Maldonado to the female also introduced a then-Albuquerque Police Department vice detective to a 14-year-old girl, according to a Metro Court complaint.
Timothy Chavez, 34, raped the teen when she allowed him to visit her home after chatting through Live Links telephone dating service, according to the complaint.
Chavez has not been indicted on rape charges but has been fired from APD.
Three times this week, police have arrested men on charges of rape and attempted rape - all stemming from contacts the men made with young women and girls online and through telephone dating services.
One of the arrests resulted from the Attorney General's Office's work on a manual aimed at helping parents and teens avoid inappropriate contacts on the Internet.
An investigator was asked to enter an online chat room and get fresh examples of what happens at such sites for use in the office's release of the new safety manual. The recording was to be used in a press conference today.
The female investigator, posing as a 14-year-old girl, went online Monday afternoon and encountered a man who subsequently used a digital video camera to send her video of himself masturbating. Later, he asked if she wanted to meet for physical sex.
The investigator agreed, and met the man Tuesday morning at Mary Fox Park on Roma Avenue Northwest.
Looking as young as she could, the investigator showed up at the 10 a.m. meeting and was met by a man who called her "Michelle," the name he'd been led to believe was hers, according to the complaint.
Police then arrested Matthew Ward, 40, of the 3400 block of Lisa Road Southwest. He listed his wife and mother as his emergency contacts when he was booked into jail on charges of attempted criminal sexual penetration, attempted criminal sexual contact with a minor and child luring, according to court documents.
"One of the most dangerous plagues that hits our communities is the ease with which predators have access to our children and our personal lives through technology," Albuquerque police spokesman John Walsh said.
Also arrested on Tuesday was Daniel Maldonado, 22, of the 2300 block of Williams Street Southeast.
In that case, Albuquerque police say Maldonado used a telephone dating service to invite a woman and her aunt to his house Monday night.
Once at the home, the woman told police Maldonado sexually assaulted her then hit her over the head several times with a bottle when she tried to leave the house, according to the complaint.
The woman was treated at the University of New Mexico Hospital for injuries.
Maldonado was arrested on charges of criminal sexual penetration, kidnapping and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
Those two arrests come one week after the arrest of an Albuquerque man on charges that he had five sexual encounters with a 15-year-old girl after weeks of dating through an online chatting service.
Thomas Tafoya, 24, faces five counts of criminal sexual penetration of a minor.
In May 2005, the same chat service that introduced Maldonado to the female also introduced a then-Albuquerque Police Department vice detective to a 14-year-old girl, according to a Metro Court complaint.
Timothy Chavez, 34, raped the teen when she allowed him to visit her home after chatting through Live Links telephone dating service, according to the complaint.
Chavez has not been indicted on rape charges but has been fired from APD.
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