Santa Fe man says he was just ‘teasing’ shooting suspect

SANTA FE — A Santa Fe man who was shot five times in the chest with a .40 caliber handgun last month told police that he was just “teasing” the alleged shooter before the gunfire, but his story contradicts what another suspect in the case said to police.

Caleb J. Calandro, 33 or 34, was arrested for shooting 28-year-old Samuel Dillon on Dec. 17 as they and two other men, Miguel Austin and Aireyon Pero, were driving around and drinking beers in Austin’s white Chevrolet van.

Santa Fe Police believe Calandro may also be involved in the shooting death of 37-year-old Rustin Radcliffe, a longtime Santa Fean recently released from the Florida prison system whose body was found at the city parking lot at Water Street and Don Gaspar Avenue around 12:30 a.m. earlier that day. Crime lab results revealed that .40-caliber casings found at both scenes came from the same weapon.

Police have said Calandro’s last known address was in Kansas City, Mo. A court document released Tuesday has two dates of birth for Calandro, who is Anglo: June 22, 1982, or Jan. 31, 1983. An online site of jail booking photos shows that Caleb Joseph Calandro, a black man also with a date of birth of Jan. 31, 1983, was booked into the Johnson County, Kan., jail for aggravated assault in 2012. Johnson County is just outside of Kansas City.

SFPD spokesman Greg Gurule could not immediately say Tuesday if Calandro may be using someone else’s identity, someone may be using his or if there is any mix-up.

In a search warrant affidavit to obtain DNA swabs from Calandro made public Tuesday in state District Court, SFPD officer Jimmie Montoya wrote that Dillon was breathing and talking on his own after being shot multiple times Dec. 17 and wanted to speak with law enforcement about what happened.

Dillon said he and others he was riding around with like to “tease” each other and that he and Calandro were in the back seat of a van when he turned to Calandro and said, “Hey Caleb ... I’m a cop,” just to “(expletive) with him.” Dillon said Calandro replied by saying, “What did you say?” Before Dillon could say anything back, Dillon said Calandro pulled out his gun and shot him.

But Pero told police Dec. 18 after he and Austin were arrested at an Albuquerque apartment for tampering with evidence that Dillon started yelling at Calandro and “got up in his face” because he saw a gun on Calandro’s hip. Calandro got out of the van and ran after Austin came to a stop. Austin and Pero then drove Dillon to the Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center. Pero told detectives that Calandro lived out of his car.