Suspect in police shooting pleads to federal weapons charge

A Los Lunas man accused of shooting a New Mexico State Police officer in 2022 pleaded guilty to a federal firearms charge and will remain in custody pending sentencing.

Caleb Elledge, 26, faces nine years in prison under the plea agreement he entered Feb. 9 before Magistrate Judge Jennifer Rozzoni at U.S. District Court in Albuquerque.

Ellege and his girlfriend were arrested in February 2022 following a shootout in Edgewood that left State Police Lt. Jeremy Vaughan injured by a gunshot.

“Lt. Vaughan and many of his colleagues from the New Mexico State Police were in the courtroom when Elledge entered his plea,” according to a statement issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico.

Elledge was indicted by a state grand jury in February 2022 in connection with Vaughan’s shooting. But the 2nd Judicial District Court charges were dropped in August 2022 pending the outcome of the federal firearms case, court records show.

Nancy Laflin, spokeswoman for the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office, said the DA’s office is weighing new charges against Elledge in Vaughan’s shooting.

“Now that the federal case is resolved, the state case is under review,” Laflin said in an email.

Vaughan pulled into a gas station in Edgewood on Feb. 11, 2022, when an employee told him that a woman was in distress in the bathroom and possibly using drugs, federal court records show.

A short time later, Vaughan saw a woman exit the bathroom and get in the passenger seat of a Cadillac driven by Elledge, according to a federal criminal complaint affidavit.

Vaughan approached the Cadillac and knocked on the window, when Elledge rammed Vaughan’s police car and fled the gas station with Vaughan in pursuit, the affidavit said.

Vaughan used his car to put the Cadillac into a spin. Both vehicles came to a stop, with the Cadillac pinned against the passenger side of Vaughan’s car.

Elledge then allegedly fired a gunshot, striking Vaughan in the neck, the affidavit said. The couple then ran from the scene.

Elledge and his girlfriend, Alanna Martinez, 23, were arrested the following day at a residence in McIntosh in Torrance County after police received a tip as to his whereabouts.

In his federal plea agreement, Elledge admitted that he possessed a 9mm pistol found in the residence at the time of his arrest.