Deputy will not face charges in shooting

According to complaint, man was shot after firing at pursuing officers

The 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday it has found no reason to charge a Bernalillo County Sheriff’s deputy in the non-fatal shooting of Alejandro Valdez last January.

Valdez, 25 at the time, with face and neck tattoos and who goes by “Grumpy,” was shot in the shoulder about 3:30 a.m. Jan. 21 after fleeing authorities in a stolen car and firing shots at them after crashing in the South Valley, according to a criminal complaint.

“The District Attorney’s Office finds that there is not probable cause to criminally charge Deputy Michelle Carlino with any crime under the laws of the state of New Mexico,” according to the DA’s shooting review released Wednesday.

The report outlined how Carlino and other deputies followed the stolen car near Rio Bravo and Isleta SW when the driver accelerated and drove off the road and into an embankment near Del Rio Road. The report says that when Carlino stopped her vehicle, she witnessed muzzle flashes from the driver who exited the crashed car. She said she fired at him four times, standing behind the door of her cruiser, and she said she heard shots from the driver hitting her vehicle. She told investigators she feared for life.

Valdez ran and made his way to an apartment complex where a 10-hour SWAT standoff ensued before deputies entered the apartment with a search warrant and found him hiding under bedsheets. A firearm was found in a closet, according to the complaint.

Valdez was booked into jail on suspicion of aggravated assault on a police officer with a deadly weapon, tampering with evidence, receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle and possession of a firearm by a felon, according to jail records.

The sheriff’s office said Valdez had been arrested previously on charges that include battery on a police officer, escape from custody and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.