A teenager who attacked a female Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office deputy last month was sentenced Wednesday to two years at the New Mexico Youth Diagnostic Development Center for the battery.
Under a plea agreement, Juan M. Alderete Jr., 16, of Moriarty admitted to disarming a peace officer and aggravated battery on a peace officer. After completing his two-year sentence at YDDC, he will have to serve nine months of parole, according to Sandoval County sheriff’s Deputy Tanya Harden, whom Alderete attacked. Harden said she had written a letter to state District Judge John W. Pope asking that Alderete receive the maximum sentence. Pope fulfilled that request Wednesday and sentenced Alderete to two years, the maximum amount of time under the plea agreement. On June 7, Alderete was in state District Court in Sandoval County for his hearing on a probation violation warrant and became upset after a judge ordered he be held at the Bernalillo County Juvenile Detention Center for two weeks, according to a Sheriff’s Office report. After the hearing, Harden escorted Alderete to a holding area inside the courthouse. During the walk to the holding area, Alderete pushed Harden against a wall, punched her in the face and tried to grab her gun from her holster, according to the report. Harden was able to get away from Alderete and used pepper spray to subdue him. Harden was also able to take out her Taser and point it at Alderete until other deputies arrived. Harden was taken to the hospital for an evaluation. She suffered an injury to her arm and an eye. She remains on administrative duty due to her injuries and is undergoing physical therapy. “I hope he gets help,” Harden said about Alderete on Wednesday. “He needs help bad.”
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