Ohkay Owingeh standoff ends without incident

A Colorado truck driver brandishing a gun and threatening suicide-by-cop on N.M. 68 north of Española was taken into custody without incident Friday morning after a 90-minute standoff, authorities say.

Tony Archuleta of Alamosa, Colo., was found walking in the median of the highway near the Ohkay Hotel Casino following a call to local authorities made by his employer, who was concerned by a message Archuleta had left him, according to the Rio Arriba County Sheriff ’s Office.

Archuleta displayed a handgun to Rio Arriba County Sheriff James D. Lujan and said he would force the sheriff to shoot him.

The sheriff ’s office and other area agencies closed the highway and surrounding roadways as they negotiated with Archuleta.

After almost two hours, Lujan was able to deploy a Taser, disabling Archuleta and resolving the standoff.

No shots were fired, sheriff ’s office spokesman Capt. Randy Sanches said.

The state road was reopened by 10 a.m., according to Sanches and an employee at the Ohkay Owingeh casino.

Archuleta had been en route to El Paso, Sanches said. He had spent the night at the Ohkay hotel; his truck was in the casino lot. The identity of the company for which he drove was not immediately available.

After the standoff, Archuleta was taken to Presbyterian Española Hospital for observation and was then transferred to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center for further evaluation.

Sanches said Archuleta could face a charge of aggravated assault on a peace officer, a thirddegree felony, but that the sheriff ’s office was not prioritizing criminal charges.

“Technically he threatened an officer with a firearm, but this is a mental health issue,” Sanches said.

District Attorney Marco Serna said his office would take the suspect’s mental health evaluation under close consideration.

“You always hate to punish somebody who’s suffering from a mental illness when really you want to help them out,” Serna said.