Deputy fired after domestic abuse arrest
Sheriff says department does not ‘tolerate or condone’ actions from ‘a law enforcement officer’
Santa Fe County Sheriff Robert Garcia said Tuesday the county terminated a rookie deputy because it has no tolerance for domestic violence.
The firing came after the girlfriend of Christopher Gonzales, 26, told Albuquerque police on Friday that he choked her twice to the point where she could not breathe and hit her in the head, according to a criminal complaint filed in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court.
“They’re serious charges,” Garcia said. “We don’t tolerate or condone domestic violence in any way — much less from a law enforcement officer.”
The girlfriend said Gonzales had become angry while they were at a bar before the two returned to her northwest Albuquerque apartment Friday evening, the complaint says. She said he got on top of her, straddling his legs around her waist, and started to strangle her “with his thumbs on her throat and both hands wrapped around her neck” for 15 seconds, the complaint says.
Before Albuquerque police arrived, Gonzales left with his duty belt because he did not want police to know he was a law enforcement officer, the complaint says.
Later, in a taped interview with an Albuquerque officer, he denied abusing his girlfriend. But the Albuquerque officer wrote in a report that text messages in his phone suggested otherwise, with one message telling her “to tell the cops she fell,” according to police. Later in the text message exchange, “he stated he was sorry for being abusive,” the complaint says.
Gonzales maintained his innocence, despite the text messages, telling police that he told her to say she fell because he pushed her away from the door while he was leaving the apartment, according to the complaint.
But the investigator wrote that, “A reasonable person would believe that the aforementioned texts would be an admission of abuse.”
Gonzales, an Albuquerque resident, was hired in July and worked as a patrol officer, Garcia said.
He was booked into jail on suspicion of two felony counts of aggravated battery against a household member and false imprisonment. He was released Saturday, and online court records do not show any pending charges.
Gonzales’ girlfriend told police the extent of her injuries included redness on her neck and ears. She said she plans on “continuing her relationship with Mr. Gonzales,” the complaint says.