06/22/16 Albuquerque, NM – Deputy Arrives At Fight – Suspect With Metal Pipe Breaks Window Of Patrol Car With Deputy In It – Confrontation – Patrol Car Stolen – 20 Mile Chase – Crash

June 22, 2016

abqjournal.com

A man who was afraid officers had been called to a Los Chavez Allsup’s for him fled the scene by stealing a deputy’s police cruiser and leading a chase across county lines Wednesday morning, according to a spokesman for the Valencia County Sheriff’s Office.

Chief Deputy Gary Hall said Salvador Perez, 34, was fighting with his brother at the convenience store on N.M. 314 when a deputy pulled into the parking lot.
He said Perez walked over to the cruiser and broke the window with the deputy still inside. When backup arrived, the deputy got out of the car and the two confronted Perez, leaving the keys in the ignition.

“The deputy never turned it off,” Hall said. “He backed it up to get away and try to determine what was taking place.”

Perez was able to pass them, and he got into the cruiser.

“He had a metal pipe in his hand,” Hall said. “Rather than use force, we gave him the opportunity to go past officers and take off.”

The deputies chased Perez for about 20 miles to Rio Bravo and Isleta SW in Albuquerque, where he crashed into one of their vehicles, Hall said. Bernalillo County deputies assisted with the arrest.

“He was taken to the hospital, checked out and released to be booked into the Valencia County Detention Center,” he said.

Perez was booked on a felony warrant and charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, Hall said.