Teen accused in threat to stay on house arrest
Valle, who police said threatened to shoot SFHS principal and had rifle in his truck, accused of twice violating terms of release
A Santa Fe teen who police said had a .22-caliber rifle in his truck when he allegedly threatened to shoot Santa Fe High School’s principal in January, has not complied with the conditions of his release, authorities said.
Alejandro Valle, 18, is awaiting trial on a felony charge of unlawful carrying of a deadly weapon on school grounds.
Officers picked up Valle on warrants charging violation of his conditions of release twice since his case has been pending and twice since the court elected to release him from jail and put him on house arrest with electronic monitoring.
“Mr. Valle, what don’t you get?” District Judge T. Glenn Ellington said at a Tuesday hearing on the second set of violations. “The alternative to following the rules is staying in jail.”
Despite his comments, Ellington allowed Valle to remain out of jail and again placed him under house arrest. The judge’s decision came after Chief Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Padgett said the state is working toward a plea deal with Valle and recommended he be released on electronic monitoring after Valle admitted through is attorney to violating the terms of his release by entering an “exclusion zone” surrounding the high school.
Valle’s attorney, Tom Clark, said the violation occurred when Valle was “fourwheeling” on a dirt road near the high school with a friend and that Valle was not the driver. His other violations have been minor infractions, including failing to report on time, court records show.
Padgett declined to comment on why the state — which had originally argued that Valle was so dangerous he should be held without bond while awaiting resolution of the case — would recommend Valle’s release, referring questions to her boss, District Attorney Marco Serna, who
did not respond to a message seeking comment.
Valle was a student in the Early College Opportunities School — an alternative high school near the main campus — when he made the threat against Santa Fe High Principal Carl Marano, police reports say.
Valle was on the main campus to visit his girlfriend, who is a student there, over lunch, and Marano made him leave.
Valle was angry about the way Marano spoke to him, according to a police report, and as he was leaving the campus, asked a security guard the principal’s name, saying: “I want to follow him home after school and shoot him with my AR-15.”
The security guard alerted other school officials to the alleged threat, according to court records, and police found a rifle inside a speaker box in Valle’s truck, which was parked at the high school.
A friend of Valle’s was next to the truck when officials found the gun, according to a police report, and said Valle had asked him to take the truck off campus and remove the weapon, which he said Valle had forgotten was in the vehicle.
A plea hearing had been scheduled in Valle’s case this week, but Ellington postponed it, saying he wanted to see how Valle behaved over the next few weeks.
If convicted, Valle — who has no criminal record and said following the incident that he didn’t “mean it” when he told the security guard he intended to harm Marano — faces a maximum penalty of 18 months in jail and a $5,000 fine.
“Sorry,” was the only word Valle said at his release hearing Tuesday, as Ellington chided him for violating the conditions of his release.