Albuquerque police release video of police chief's crash

The Albuquerque Police Department released video on Wednesday of the weekend shooting that led Police Chief Harold Medina to crash into another vehicle on East Central.

The crash left another driver seriously injured, but he is expected to recover. Nobody was injured by gunfire, and the man who fired the shot fled in a truck.

Albuquerque Metro Crime Stoppers has released photos of the man and truck, hoping to identify him.

Officials have said Medina, who was with his wife, stopped to call for officers to clear a homeless encampment at Central and Alvarado when an unrelated fight broke out. A man pulled a gun and fired at another, according to police, and Medina drove through a red light and into the intersection to get away.

APD spokeswoman Rebecca Atkins said crash data showed “Medina accelerated and tried hitting the brakes just before the crash occurred.”

The nearly 3-minute video from a local business security camera, which captured the shooting and crash from a distance, begins with a man walking east on Central. Another man can be seen hunched over in an office chair on the sidewalk.

Around the 1-minute mark, two figures can be seen fighting outside the Tewa Lodge motel, swinging their arms as the scuffle moves down the sidewalk. The gunshot cannot be heard, as the video has no audio, but, a nearby flock of pigeons can be seen taking to the air.

At the same time, Medina’s APD-issued unmarked truck can be seen inching out into Central. The truck drives into oncoming westbound traffic — between two vehicles, one of which appears to stop to avoid a crash.

The truck then accelerates quickly across Central and crashes into a classic Mustang headed east. The man who allegedly fired the gun appeared to watch the crash unfold before running down the sidewalk, past the man in the office chair, and out of view.

An APD report on the crash said surveillance video showed the shooter getting into a truck that was parked outside Café Da Lat.

Police said Medina passed a breathalyzer test after the crash and later took a drug test. The results of the latter have not been released.

Medina requested an internal investigation be done because he did not have his lapel camera on. Medina was on his way to a press conference at the time.

Gilbert Gallegos, another APD spokesperson, said powered his lapel camera on at 9:22 a.m., within minutes of the crash. Gallegos then addressed any possible policy violations regarding the lapel camera.

“Even if the policy applies to the Chief under these circumstances, it states (an officer’s lapel camera) should be in buffer mode, ‘unless Department personnel are working in administrative capacity,’” Gallegos said.

APD’s Standard Operating Procedure states personnel need to activate their lapel camera for any “law enforcement encounter... and for any investigative encounter” that involves contact with community members.

“Department personnel working in an administrative capacity are still required to activate their (lapel camera) for mandatory recording events,” according to the policy.

Anyone with information about the incident or the suspect or vehicle is asked to contact Crime Stoppers, anonymously, at 505-843-STOP (7867) or p3tips.com/531.