Albuquerque man arrested in 2016 fatal hit-and-run

A man was arrested on a warrant last Friday — more than seven years after allegedly running over and killing a 26-year-old while in a stolen pickup outside a gas station in Northeast Albuquerque.

Gilbert Joseph Figueroa, 55, is being charged with an open count of murder, intimidation of a witness, receiving and transferring a stolen vehicle and tampering with evidence in the March 31, 2016, death of Louis Chavez.

The attorney representing Figueroa could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.

Figueroa’s arrest came after the Albuquerque Police Department spoke to multiple witnesses and received Chavez’s autopsy report containing DNA evidence linking Figueroa to the killing almost eight years later, according to a criminal complaint filed at Metropolitan Court.

The case stemmed from a hit-and-run outside a Chevron near Lomas and Eubank NE.

Arriving officers found Chavez face down in a pool of blood in the northbound lanes of Eubank, according to the complaint. Chavez’s friend told a detective that a man asked her and Chavez for money to buy gas, which turned into an argument.

Police said the friend told them the man then got into a stolen pickup and ran Chavez over as he walked along the sidewalk. Video surveillance showed the driver did not try to slow down or avoid Chavez and he fled the scene.

According to the complaint, an autopsy revealed that Chavez suffered “extensive” skull fracture damage and hemorrhaging to the brain and heart. The investigation also revealed that the truck had been stolen just before the incident.

Police said the case went cold until 2018, when APD received a Crime Stoppers tip that identified Figueroa as the driver in surveillance video.

However, no other investigative steps are detailed until this year.

On Sept. 1, a detective looking into another incident ran into Figueroa’s cousin, who told police he saw the 2016 hit-and-run, according to the complaint. The cousin said Figueroa had “smooshed the dude in the parking lot.”

Police said the cousin told them Figueroa intimidated him afterward by repeatedly breaking into his home because he knew about the homicide, forcing him to move repeatedly.

In December, police received a tip that another person had identified Figueroa as the suspect, according to the complaint. Detectives reviewed video surveillance and a copy of Chavez’s autopsy, which “corroborates” the tips and statements they received.

APD obtained a warrant and arrested Figueroa on Dec. 22. He could face life in prison if convicted.