Woman arrested after chasing, hitting woman with ax in Nob Hill, police say

A woman is accused of breaking into another woman’s house and hitting her on the shoulder with an ax in Northeast Albuquerque.

Laura Barta, 31, of Albuquerque is charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated burglary, criminal damage over $1,000 and larceny. She is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center. It is unclear whether she has an attorney.

On Sept. 10, the Albuquerque Police Department received a call about someone being chased by Barta, who was wielding an ax in the area of the 400 block of Solano, near Carlisle.

According to a criminal complaint filed at Metropolitan Court, an officer identified the suspect from a 2022 arrest.

The complaint states the victim told police she saw Barta staring at her rear sliding glass door. The woman told police Barta said, “You’re in my friend’s house. Get the (expletive) out (expletive).” Police said the victim told them she yelled at Barta, who briefly left before coming back with a wood ax she took from the victim’s backyard and broke the glass door.

The victim told police Barta soon after hit her in the shoulder with the ax, “sending a jolt of pain through her as she ran for her life,” per the complaint.

Police said the victim was able to get into a stranger’s vehicle and get away.

According to court records, Barta was out on pretrial release after pleading not guilty on Sept. 21 to criminal trespassing. She also has an evidentiary hearing scheduled for Friday for a breaking-and-entering charge. Additionally, Barta is facing a nonresidential burglary charge after allegedly stealing a paint can from a day care facility in August.

Court records state Barta was arrested on Saturday. It is unclear why it took about two weeks to arrest her.