Cop Held On Assault Charges

Robert Rosales, a 10-year veteran of the Rio Rancho Police Department, was arrested early Monday after a domestic dispute, according to police.

Rosales, 38, has been charged with aggravated assault against a household member, tampering with evidence, false imprisonment and negligent use of a deadly weapon. He was booked into the Sandoval County Detention Center but has since bonded out.

Police officers went to Rosales’ home at about 3 a.m., after his girlfriend called 911 and left the line open. Dispatchers heard a woman asking Rosales to give her the gun.

When officers went to the home, Rosales was in bed covered by sheets. According to a criminal complaint, Rosales told officers his duty weapon was under the bed unloaded, but he kicked a bullet toward the nightstand to try to conceal it. The woman, whom police identified as his girlfriend, told officers Rosales got up sometime in the middle of the night and came back to bed about 3 a.m., angry and smelling like alcohol.

The two, according to the criminal complaint, started to argue and when she tried to leave the room with a pillow and a blanket, Rosales pulled out his police-issued pistol and pointed it at her. Rosales told her she could not leave until they settled their argument and gestured for her to sit back on the bed.

Police records state the woman became fearful and secretly dialed 911 and left the line open. When Rosales realized she had made the call, he pointed the gun at his head and told her to hang up, the complaint said.

She agreed to do so, if Rosales would give her the gun. He tossed the weapon onto the bed, she hung up and the cops arrived shortly after.

Rosales is on paid leave pending the outcome of an internal affairs investigation.
— This article appeared on page C1 of the Albuquerque Journal