Congress hopeful suspected of stalking

Candidate was convicted of similar crimes in 2008

A congressional candidate who said just last month that he had moved past a stalking conviction from nine years ago is back in trouble with the law.

David Alcon, 39, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for the open congressional seat in Southern New Mexico, again stands accused of stalking.

A Santa Fe woman told police Saturday night that Alcon sent her a series of threatening text messages that made her fear for her safety while she was at a Halloween party. She said one message suggested he was watching her and another said he loved her and wanted her to have his children.

“The text messages went on to tell her that she better not leave, and he told her that he was not going to lose her

again for another 10 years and even included a picture of his genitals,” a police report states.

Efforts to reach Alcon by phone and email were unsuccessful Monday. The police report lists his address in the village of Milan, which is near Grants.

The victim, 44, did not return a message seeking comment.

Last month, when Alcon announced his run for Congress, he told The New Mexican that a conviction on stalking and trespassing charges was “something in the past” and that he’s had to deal with mental health issues.

“I’ve been able to maintain my mental health,” he said last month. “Mental health is something that people don’t pay attention to. It’s a big issue in this state.”

During his 2008 sentencing hearing, prosecutors said Alcon broke into his ex-girlfriend’s house a year earlier and was found passed out with the alarm going off.

Alcon later showed up at the woman’s house late at night, left notes and flowers on her truck, left harassing messages for her and drove past her home, prosecutors said at the time.

On the first day of his trial, authorities said, he sprinkled rose petals on the victim’s front porch.

“That is creepy,” former state District Judge Michael Vigil said before sentencing Alcon, who received a deferred sentence that allowed him to avoid time behind bars if he stayed out of trouble while he was on probation for three years.

In the latest incident, the victim, a different woman, called police three separate times.

The woman told police that she started receiving text messages from Alcon about 11:30 p.m. Saturday.

The woman “states multiple times in the text messages that she did not want anything to do with Alcon, and she repeatedly told him to leave her alone,” the police report states. “Alcon was persistent in his proposition to [the victim], and even sent messages that suggested he was watching [her].”

The woman told police she became upset, and “Alcon attempted to change his proposition to ask her to work for him.”

The woman left the party with an Uber driver, who “contacted the police via a relay service,” the report states. She told the officer that she met Alcon at a “political party” about 10 years ago and that he has texted her in the past but nothing like the texts she received Saturday night.

The officer asked the woman whether she had seen Alcon that night.

The woman “said she had danced with some random people at the Halloween party she was at, but did not know if he was one of them,” the report states.

After the officer took the report and the victim started to go home, the woman called police again to report that Alcon sent her a text saying he was at her apartment. The officer went to the apartment but didn’t find anyone outside.

The officer then met up with the woman nearby. She said Alcon had called her, and they had a brief conversation.

“She did not really know what it was about other than Alcon stated that the Israeli Mossad would help her,” the officer wrote in his report. “I escorted [the victim] back to her apartment and made sure no one was inside.”

After the officer left, the woman called police a third time to report that Alcon was still texting her “but trying to say good night.”

The officer tried to contact Alcon but was unsuccessful and left a message.

“I checked the phone number through dispatch to see if we had any prior contacts in the city with it. Dispatch advised me they did not have contacts with the number,” the officer reported. “I checked the phone number through the Google search engine, and found that it is the same number that is listed on Alcon’s website for his political campaign to contact him directly.”

Alcon is the son of state Rep. Eliseo Alcon, D-Milan, who also could not be reached for comment.

David Alcon is among a long list of candidates from both major parties who hope to succeed Republican Rep. Steve Pearce, who is running for governor.