City councilors decry Downtown chaos; APD planning crackdown

Matthew Reisen, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
·5 min read

May 21—City councilors sought answers from the Albuquerque Police Department during a meeting this week after hearing about a shooting, sexual assault and reports of general mayhem in Downtown over the weekend.

Police say a man was shot Downtown late Sunday night after a group of motorcyclists — allegedly Bandidos — opened fire on a car. While investigating that shooting, police arrested a man who they say attacked and sexually assaulted a woman in a separate incident.

The week before, police say, an armed man fled Downtown officers by ramming vehicles with his car. He then led authorities on a crosstown chase where he almost struck officers, pedestrians and multiple vehicles.

Monday's discussion during a City Council meeting — which involved Police Chief Harold Medina and his staff, multiple councilors and even Mayor Tim Keller's staff — hit on large crowds of people swarming to Downtown, possible enforcement ideas and the growing concerns of residents and city leaders.

Councilor Pat Davis referenced a "very concerning shooting" between rival motorcycle groups and the sexual assault.

The issue is not a new one.

Former-Mayor Richard Berry battled Downtown crime and tried to clean up the area as some businesses threatened to leave.

This time around, one city councilor has suggested shutting down roads surrounding Downtown to quell the disturbances.

"We're going to continue to work and devote resources to Downtown ... we saw things were going to reopen, we knew things were going to change," Medina told councilors. He called the issue "a balancing act" figuring out how to allow law-abiding residents and cruisers to enjoy the area but punish those breaking the law.

Valley Area Commander Josh Brown said APD will kick off a 60-day operation on May 29 in Downtown that will utilize DWI-units, traffic police and other investigative units. He said the operation will run Thursdays through Sundays and, among other enforcement tactics, there will be "zero tolerance" on modified exhaust, racing and traffic violations.

Brown said crowds have always congregated around Downtown but the problem is "outliers" who "are there strictly to commit crime." He also stressed that police are not targeting the Downtown cruising scene.

"We don't have a problem with them, they have high-end cars that they've invested money into. They're there with their families and they're not causing problems," he said. "We're targeting the other groups that are coming in that have nothing better to do — drinking in public, shooting guns, things like that.

"Public perception is just that, it's a perception of safety. If people don't feel safe it's my job to make sure that they do," Brown said.

City Councilor Isaac Benton, who has represented the district for 15 years and lived there for more than 40, told The Journal he has "never seen anything like it."

"This is a real different stage, and I've seen it go through a lot of stages, ups and downs, I've lived in the district long before I was a councilor," he said. "... With these groups, it's just a sheer fearlessness and arrogance about doing whatever they want to do."

Benton described the troublesome groups as "knuckleheads" who are "egregiously inconsiderate," engaging in gunplay and criminal activity of all kinds. He said the Sunday cruising, lowrider scene has unfortunately been "lumped in" with ne'er-do-wells who hang out in parking lots through the weekend.

"The overriding concern is a slippage into lawlessness in all forms ... it really is worrisome," Benton said, adding that he has faith that APD will get the situation under control.

APD spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said Sunday's incident played out around 11:30 p.m. when officers responded to a shooting outside JC's New York Pizza Department on Central near Third. Jared Watts, a manager at the pizza place, said security video showed a woman and two men firing guns from the restaurant's patio.

Gallegos said that hours later, a man who had been shot showed up at the hospital and police determined the incident happened Downtown. He said at Gold and Second, near the pizza place, officers found a crashed motorcycle with spent bullet casings around it. Gallegos said two "noninvolved" vehicles were hit by gunfire but no one was injured in that incident.

As police were in the area they heard a woman screaming, according to court records, and came upon Shanto Pounds-Moquino, 31, lying on top of a woman. The woman told police Pounds-Moquino asked for a cigarette and then punched her, bit her face and tried to reach into her underwear.

Pounds-Moquino has been charged with criminal sexual contact, aggravated battery and battery in the incident.

The previous weekend also got a little chaotic on Friday night.

Officers were called around 9 p.m. to a parking lot at Second and Central for reports of a man with a gun, according to court records. The man fled, ramming a vehicle that had two women inside to escape the parking lot.

Police say the man, later identified as Gabriel Chavez, drove into oncoming traffic and onto the sidewalk almost striking vehicles and pedestrians. At one point, officers surrounded Chavez and the 19-year-old drove at them, causing two to jump out of the way.

Police say they eventually arrested Chavez at a home off East Central and found an AK-47 pistol, two handguns, hundreds of fentanyl pills and $5,500 in cash. Chavez also blew over the legal limit for alcohol and was charged with a litany of felonies before the case was handed over to federal authorities for prosecution.

Benton said he hopes these incidents don't continue in an area already hit hard by the pandemic.

"We're trying so hard to make it a vibrant area for residents, and this activity would clearly drive anyone away," he said. "This is a new problem and it needs immediate attention."

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