A member of the Bandidos motorcycle club is accused of fatally shooting a member of a rival club on a crowded sidewalk in Downtown Albuquerque.
Patrick Alvarado, 46, is charged with an open count of murder in the January 2020 death of 35-year-old Philip Quintel.
Alvarado was arrested Thursday evening in the North Valley and booked into Metropolitan Detention Center.
It is unclear if he has an attorney and his family declined to comment.
Prosecutors filed a motion to detain Alvarado until trial, saying he “put the lives of everyone on the street with him in danger” in addition to killing Quintel.
Alvarado was arrested the night of the homicide and initially told detectives he fired in self-defense before the case apparently went stagnant for more than a year.
Gilbert Gallegos, an Albuquerque police spokesman, said in November a new detective took over and found Quintel was shot without provocation.
Gallegos had no details to explain the time lapse between the shooting and the case being reassigned in 2022.
An online obituary said Quintel, a father of three from Arizona, had “a heart so big that God wouldn’t let it live.”
On Jan. 26, 2020, officers responded around 12:45 a.m. to gunfire outside the KiMo Theatre, near Fifth and Central, and found Quintel fatally injured, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. Police saw Alvarado run into the neighboring Sister bar where he was detained and a gun was found in his pocket.
Police said, at the time, Alvarado told detectives he was walking down the sidewalk when he bumped into someone and a fight broke out. He said Quintel “rushed him” and was reaching into his pocket when Alvarado shot him once.
Alvarado told detectives he never saw a gun or weapon in Quintel’s hand, according to the complaint.
There is no further investigation documented in the complaint until January 2023, when a new detective compared Alvarado’s initial statement to surveillance footage.
Police said the footage showed Quintel and another man walked toward Alvarado but “does not rush him at any point and his hands are at his side.” Additionally, Quintel appeared to be focused on a fight in the street and not on Alvarado.
Further investigation found Alvarado was a member of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club and Quintel was “associated with” the Mongols Motorcycle Club, according to the complaint.
Police said “it is known that these two gangs are rivals and are known to have conflicts.” In the weeks leading up to the homicide Alavarado was believed to be a Bandido prospect trying to become a member.
Detectives discovered calls between Alvarado and the Bandidos in the hours before the homicide, according to the complaint. Police said Alvarado became a full member of the gang sometime afterward.
