Passenger rescued after police pursuit
Driver charged with kidnapping, other crimes after high-speed chase
Deputies say they took a man into custody and a woman out of harm’s way after a pursuit across town that reached speeds up to 100 mph Thursday night.
And the suspect’s SUV was later determined to be stolen, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.
Around 9:20 p.m., Bernalillo County Sheriff’s deputies were in the area of Coors and Western Trail NW when they spotted a white SUV driving over 100 mph with no lights on, according to the complaint. They tried to pull the SUV over but the driver fled and they gave chase.
Near Paseo del Norte and Jefferson NE the driver, later identified as Miguel Artalejo-Arvizo, 25, was briefly stopped but he was able to get away by ramming a deputy’s vehicle, according to the complaint.
As he fled, deputies say they saw someone in the passenger seat waving their hands and screaming for help.
So deputies continued to chase the SUV until they were able to stop it in the area of Dakota and Bellamah NE, which is near Interstate 40 and Louisiana. They said Artalejo-Arvizo rammed another deputy’s vehicle as his passenger screamed for help and he screamed for deputies to shoot him. Instead, they took him into custody. Artalejo-Arvizo was arrested and charged with kidnapping, unlawful taking of a motor vehicle and several other charges.
When deputies interviewed his passenger, she told them she had been walking earlier that day when Artalejo-Arvizo dragged her into the passenger seat. Then, she said, every time she tried to escape he would slam her head into the SUV’s console and scream threats at her, according to the complaint.
When deputies talked with Artalejo-Arvizo, however, he said he and the woman were both at a house in Southwest Albuquerque and he was giving her a ride when deputies tried to pull him over. He said he fled from deputies because he did not want to go to jail.