Domestic violence call leads to high-speed car chase, 3 officers injured

Albuquerque police officers responding to a domestic violence report Saturday ended up in a high-speed chase and possible shoot-out with the suspect in a grocery store parking lot.

An officer fired his rifle at Michael Pacheco after Pacheco pointed a “sawed off shotgun” at him, according to Albuquerque Police Department spokesman Simon Drobik.

No one was injured by the gunfire, according Drobik’s initial report.

Pacheco, 29, originally caught police attention after an anonymous caller said Pacheco threatened to kill a female member of his family at about 1:30 p.m. Saturday in the 9100 block of San Nicholas Avenue near Unser and Bluewater.

Police were on scene responding to the call when they say Pacheco drove by. Police say he fled at high speed and eventually ended up at a shopping center near Coors and Central.

It was in the parking lot that an officer said Pacheco pointed a sawed off shotgun at him, possibly firing it. The officer then fired his rifle at Pacheco, Drobik said. Drobik said Pacheco was wearing body armor.

Pacheco fled and officers pursued, with one officer using a police car to crash into Pacheco.

“It was a very violent act, but it was an intentional act to stop that vehicle and his action ,” said Drobik, describing the officer’s decision to ram his vehicle into the sedan Pacheco was driving.

All in all, three officers were injured during the incident, one during the crash and two who were cut by glass trying to pull Pacheco from his vehicle. They have since been released from the hospital.

Pacheco was taken into custody and charged with aggravated assault on a police officer with a deadly weapon, aggravated eluding and a warrant out of Sandoval County for a charge of forgery.