ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Teens and kids are driving crime in the community: that’s what Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office Sheriff John Allen had to say during a news conference on the work they’ve been doing to curb crime. The sheriff asid the increase in violent crime they’re seeing from teenagers needs to be addressed.
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“Juveniles are drivers of crime in Bernalillo County,” Allen said. To illustrate that point, the sheriff, joined by Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman and other local officials, highlighted the arrest of three teenagers suspected of killing a 16-year-old in May.
“The case that we highlight today is to show you how juveniles are drivers of crime; but that it’s so many multifaceted crimes and approaches comes from misdemeanors to felonies to street racing to speeding to violent crime all the way up to the tip of the spear, which is homicide,” Allen said.
On May 19th, deputies got a call in the Pajarito Mesa southwest of Albuquerque, where 16-year-old Jesus Quintana Cota was found dead from a gunshot. Three suspects, Daniel Medrano Garcia (18), Mariana Gomez (18), and Dominik Marquez (17), were arrested on June 27. The sheriff said they were all juveniles at the time of the murder.
“This was a dispute over money and also a possible retaliation for something that occurred previously between these parties,” said Detective Cameron Carroll with the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office. He said it was a planned and targeted incident.
“When it comes to these juveniles, this is another example of the terrible increase in violent crime among juveniles in our community,” Bregman said, “Unfortunately, it is also a testament to the fact that our juvenile criminal justice system is broken.”
Bregman said kids are not held in Juvenile Detention unless their crime involves a gun; that probation for juveniles is ineffective; and that the Children’s Code hasn’t been updated since the 1970s. Sheriff Allen says the Youth Services Center, where these juveniles are held, is almost full.
“The 60-day session starts in January and I think we really need as a community and a legislature and everybody else to come together and update that Children’s Code,” Bregman said.
The sheriff says social media plays a big role in illegal street racing and illegal activity and has a message for the community: “When you have any type of social media and you’re looking at outrunning law enforcement, whether that’s BCSO, any law enforcement entity, we’re gonna come after you.”
The sheriff also highlighted statistics for arrests and citations from their recent operations. They highlighted that during recent drag racing operations, they made five misdemeanor and ten felony arrests; gave out 24 racing on highway citations; made three DWI arrests; recovered one gun; issued 77 speeding citations; made 238 traffic stops; and handed out 264 other citations.
The sheriff said they are doing 27 to 30 operations a month.
