Bernalillo County sheriff bemoans crime among unhoused, advocates say comments do damage

A homeless man who allegedly threatened hotel staff with a knife and watched pornography on full volume in the lobby is behind bars — a case that prompted the Bernalillo County sheriff to issue a statement about his “growing concerns of violent crime by unhoused individuals.”

Lucas Pedraza-Abrams, 37, is charged with criminal damage to property over $1,000, which is a fourth-degree felony. He was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center on Sunday.

Prior to his arrest, according to court records, Pedraza-Abrams had not been charged with a crime since 2016, when he was arrested for a DWI and evading officers.

In a statement released Monday, BCSO Sheriff John Allen pointed to a string of incidents at the Marriott Hotel in Uptown Albuquerque that led to Pedraza-Abrams’ arrest. He said it illustrated a broader picture of the city’s current struggle with homelessness. Advocates for the homeless population, however, said arrests aren’t a long-term solution.

“Our community is frustrated, and we hear it every single day,” Allen said in the release. “I receive more calls about violent or criminal behavior from unhoused individuals than any other issue. The truth is, not everyone wants help. Many refuse services, refuse accountability, and continue to commit crimes that hurt our community.”

Prosecutors filed a motion to hold Pedraza-Abrams until trial, saying his “blatant defiance of the property’s clear orders to not return — upwards of 60 times — shows that he cannot comply with court’s order.”

According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court on Aug. 22, hotel staff had been dealing with Pedraza-Abrams for weeks before BSCO detained him. On July 30, he reportedly walked into the hotel with a laptop in his hand and sat near the hotel’s ballroom, where an event was taking place.

“The individual then opens a laptop that he brought with him and begins watching pornography, with the volume up so the attendees of the event were subjected to the content as well,” the complaint said.

When an employee asked him to leave, Pedraza-Abrams became angry and used a knife to slash furniture before picking up a table and throwing it, “nearly striking several attendees of the event,” the complaint stated.

Hours later, he threw a rock at a hotel window and shattered it. The next day, Pedraza-Abrams entered the hotel through an employee entrance and hid under a stack of chairs to sleep, according to the complaint. When an employee tried to escort him off the property, Pedraza-Abrams threatened employees with a knife.

A week later, on Aug. 15, hotel staff said Pedraza-Abrams attempted to gain access to the hotel with a stolen key card. When it failed, he allegedly smashed multiple windows with a rock before fleeing.

Hotel management said they called 911 multiple times, but their calls went “unanswered in a timely manner,” according to the release. Eventually, they contacted Allen directly, and BCSO arrested Pedraza-Abrams over the weekend.

The Albuquerque Police Department had been dispatched to the hotel before and received video of the incident, but at that point, the suspect had not been identified, said APD spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos. A detective was going to follow up on the investigation when BCSO got involved.

While Allen said the issue highlights his growing concerns for public safety, advocates for the homeless, like the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, said criminalizing the homeless only perpetuates the issue.

“Research shows that people experiencing homelessness are significantly more likely to experience violent crime than the general population,” said ACLU policy advocate Daniel Williams. “People experiencing homelessness experience a victimization rate about 25 times higher than the general population.”

Williams added that while jailing the homeless may offer a temporary resolution for law enforcement, it is not a long-term solution.

“All of us who are concerned about homelessness, which I think is all New Mexicans, need to be prioritizing solving the root causes of homelessness,” he said. “All of us are safer when all of us are housed.”