Settlement awards $1.5 million to family of Peralta man fatally shot by deputies

Valencia County Sheriff Denise Vigil is criticizing a settlement that awarded $1.5 million to the family of a Peralta man fatally shot by a deputy in 2024.

Vigil also said deputies “acted lawfully and appropriately” when the deputy — identified only by the last name “Chavez” in court records — shot Michael Gabaldon, 51, in the back during an armed confrontation between Gabaldon and a neighbor.

Gabaldon’s family filed a lawsuit in May against the Valencia County Board of Commissioners alleging that sheriff’s deputies failed to take action that could have prevented Gabaldon’s death by arresting Thomas Rodriguez, who was firing guns and threatening neighbors outside his home just south of Peralta.

The Gabaldon family reached the agreement with the New Mexico County Insurance Authority, an insurance pool formed to self-insure member counties. The 13th Judicial District lawsuit was settled Oct. 22 under a sealed agreement approved by Judge Cindy Mercer.

Valencia County and the sheriff’s office “were not in agreement and did not authorize or participate in the settlement,” Vigil said in a statement. “The Sheriff and the County remain concerned about the precedent this settlement sets for future claims involving law enforcement officers and the broader implications for public trust.”

The settlement also could result in higher premiums for member counties “that limit the ability to deliver essential public services,” the statement said.

The Gabaldons’ attorney, Laura Schauer Ives, said the statement shows the sheriff’s office has refused to accept responsibility for creating the circumstances that led to Gabaldon’s death. Deputies failed to arrest Rodriguez for his illegal and dangerous behavior, forcing Michael Gabaldon to defend himself and his family, she said.

“It is absolutely stunning that they do not recognize that their refusal to enforce laws in Valencia County is what led to this,” Schauer Ives said of the sheriff’s office.

“There’s absolutely zero question that (Rodriguez) was extremely dangerous,” she said in an interview. “He was so dangerous they removed Rodriguez’s brother and mother from the home, but they didn’t take (Rodriguez) into custody. Deputies should have done something because they risked the community, they risked the Gabaldons, by not doing so.”

Rodriguez’s mother told deputies that he possessed multiple firearms and agreed to file an extreme-risk firearms protection order under the state’s Red Flag Law that would have allowed deputies to remove guns from the property, but deputies failed to obtain the order, Schauer Ives said.

Valencia County Attorney Nicholas Autio did not immediately respond to the Journal’s request for a comment.

Gabaldon’s death

The Gabaldon family’s lawsuit alleged that Rodriguez, 46, was a menace in the neighborhood for three years after he moved in with his mother in 2022. Rodriguez lived next door to Gabaldon, his wife, Patricia Gabaldon, and their teenage son.

The suit alleged that Rodriguez “terrorized the neighborhood,” shooting at homes, breaking windows, breaking into houses and shouting at neighbors.

On Sept. 29, 2024, the day of Gabaldon’s death, neighbors called 911 to report hearing gunshots from Rodriguez’s house, the suit alleged.

When deputies arrived at the house, Rodriguez’s mother confirmed that her son was mentally ill and had been using drugs and hadn’t slept for days, the suit said. The mother also told deputies that Rodriguez had several guns, including an AR-style rifle and had been shooting them outside the house. Deputies removed the mother and Rodriguez’s brother from the house.

Deputies learned that Rodriguez had two outstanding arrest warrants and established a perimeter around the home, but Rodriguez ignored calls to exit the house, the suit said. Deputies requested a SWAT team but the request was denied, it said.

Patricia Gabaldon made 11 calls to the Valencia Regional Emergency Communications Center, resulting in three responses by VCSO deputies. Michael Gabaldon was shot by deputies on their third visit.

When deputies arrived at about 10:30 p.m., they ordered Gabaldon to drop his weapon.

“Michael (Gabaldon) was standing on his own property near the fence line, actively defending himself from Rodriguez at the time,” the suit said. A “Deputy Chavez” fired a single fatal shot into Gabaldon’s back, it said.