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Thursday, Mar 28th

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ABQ man jailed on drug possession, warrant, resisting arrest charges

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An Albuquerque man, already facing resisting arrest and possession of drug paraphernalia charges, might be looking at a separate assault upon a police officer charge, too, after a recent incident, officials said. The culprit in the situation remains jailed at the McKinley County Adult Detention Center on a $2,000 reduced bond amount, according to jail records.

Rudy Martinez-Zepeda, 25, was taken into custody by a female deputy with the McKinley County Sheriff’s Office on March 26 when MCSO was called to the Thoreau Giant Station. There, Deputy Lasheena Johnson encountered Zepeda and his mother, Lorraine Zepada, who were stopped at the station after a visit to a friend’s house.

Johnson recorded in a police report that at about 4:27 pm, she arrived at the station only to find customers and some store personnel “standing around the store.” A clerk pointed to the south side of the store and things took off from there.

Johnson said she observed a rack of sunglasses to be pushed over inside the convenience store. Lorraine Zepeda approached Johnson and said she and her son, Rudy, were about to leave the station. Lorraine Zepeda said Rudy was sitting in the driver’s seat of the van.

“As I drew closer, I drew my duty weapon,” Johnson wrote in the police report about approaching the van. She said she commanded Zepeda to show his hands and exit the van. He refused.

Johnson discovered that Rudy Zepeda was in possession of a smoking pipe that contained a white-like residue.

“As I placed my handcuffs on him, he pushed away from me,” Johnson recorded. Zepeda was ultimately handcuffed and put under control. A state police officer later arrived on the scene and assisted with the apprehension of Zepeda, the police report states.

Lorraine Zepeda told Johnson that her son grew angry when she would not give him the keys to the van. He walked inside the store with his friends, one of whom knocked over the sunglasses stand, Lorraine Zepeda said.

While Johnson was conversing with Lorraine Zepeda, Rudy uttered something to Johnson to the effect of, “You’re going to die like Houston and I’ll make sure of it.”

Merle Bates, an investigator with MCSO, said he’s looking to make the proposed assault on a police officer charge stick. He said Rudy Zepeda made the remark with malice and was fully aware of what he said.

Houston James Largo, 27, was shot and killed near Prewitt about two weeks ago after responding to a domestic violence call.

By Bernie Dotson

Sun Correspondent