TORRANCE COUNTY, N.M. (KRQE) — New Mexico State Police arrested two men following a vehicle theft that escalated into a shooting, pursuit, and crash spanning Torrance County to Albuquerque.
Authorities say Miguel Pena-Guardado and Maclen Suarez-Villalobos stole a dump truck parked at Gonzalez Contractors’ business in Moriarty. A passing couple spotted the suspicious activity and followed the stolen dump truck along with a gray Ford pickup believed to be linked to the suspects.
The couple alerted 911 while tailing the vehicles. At one point, the dump truck stopped to block the road, and the suspects fled on foot. During the incident, one suspect brandished a firearm and fired a single shot while threatening the couple.
Police later located the gray Ford pickup near NM Highway 333 and Skyline Drive. When officers tried to stop the vehicle, the driver refused, sparking a high-speed chase along I-40 westbound.
During the pursuit, suspects threw metal tools at the police car, damaging the windshield. The chase ended on the I-40 westbound off-ramp at Exit 167 in Albuquerque, where a PIT maneuver caused the suspect vehicle to lose control and crash into two other cars.
The crash victims, a man and woman in a Hyundai and a man driving a Chevrolet pickup, were hospitalized and are in stable condition.
Pena-Guardado, the driver, and Suarez-Villalobos, the passenger, were taken into custody and received medical treatment for injuries sustained in the crash.
Charges against Pena-Guardado include aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, multiple counts of burglary of an automobile and conspiracy, unlawful taking of a motor vehicle and conspiracy, and aggravated fleeing from law enforcement.
Suarez-Villalobos faces charges including aggravated assault on a peace officer, multiple counts of burglary of an automobile and conspiracy, unlawful taking of a motor vehicle conspiracy, aggravated fleeing from law enforcement conspiracy, and criminal damage to property.
