Case against BCSO sergeant heading to District Court
Sergeant accused of kicking suspect during arrest in March
When a Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office sergeant kicked him in the head, Christopher Lucero was lying face down on the pavement, as multiple deputies worked to get him into handcuffs.
That’s according to testimony by Deputy Andrew Limon, one of the deputies who was trying to take Lucero into custody March 19. He would later report Sgt. David Priemazon’s alleged conduct to a supervisor, triggering an internal investigation.
Priemazon, 48, is facing one count of aggravated battery resulting in great bodily harm for his alleged actions during Lucero’s arrest, and after an hourslong preliminary hearing in Metropolitan Court on Monday, Judge Sandra Engel ruled that his case will move ahead in District Court. That hearing included testimony from Limon and Deputy Ross Daugherty, who were both on scene during the arrest and described seeing the sergeant kick Lucero.
Sam Bregman, who is representing Priemazon, pointed to discrepancies in the deputies’ testimony and suggested that an officer might kick a suspect in the shoulder in an attempt to get access to their hands.
“If you want to believe because they both said that he kicked him, where’s the intent that he intended to kick him in the face?” Bregman said in his closing argument. “Both of them ... said, ‘I have no idea whether or not he meant to hit him in the shoulder.’ ”
Limon testified that Lucero failed to stop after the deputy noticed his license plate did not match the vehicle he was driving. He initiated a pursuit after Lucero nearly hit two young pedestrians and, later, almost drove into Daugherty’s vehicle. Limon eventually drove his police cruiser into Lucero’s bumper, sending the SUV spinning and rolling. When the SUV landed on its side, Lucero jumped out and fled on foot.
Limon testified that Lucero fell down and was tackled by three deputies who then tried to cuff him using “softening techniques.”
“These deputies were then punching him, doing strikes to him, they were using elbows, they were using fists, they were using open hands, they were using closed hands, all of these things, hitting him intentionally, trying to get him to comply,” Bregman said.
When Daugherty arrived, he joined in the effort. Both he and Limon described seeing Priemazon kick the suspect twice.
“The first kick was, as I said, as I was getting the left hand secured,” Daugherty said. “He kicked him a second time as I was going to get the right hand. And then I called out that I was recording and that there were people watching to get him to stop.”
He said he heard Priemazon tell the man “something to the effect of ‘That’s what you get for running from us.’”
Limon, who is certified as a use-of-force instructor, testified that he did not feel the kick was appropriate. Both deputies said they left the kicking out of their incident reports in part because they had to be submitted to Priemazon for approval. They later reported his behavior to supervisors.
An ophthalmologist testified that the inner orbital wall of Lucero’s left eye was fractured.
Bregman said his client did not kick the man in the head and he was looking forward to presenting the case to a jury.
“This law enforcement officer has served this community for so many years,“he said. “We need to get rid of this case immediately and we will when it comes trial time.”
Priemazon has been placed on administrative leave.