ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - An Albuquerque woman has filed a lawsuit against the New Mexico State Police, saying two officers used excessive force when they shot her in the back in 2014.
Roxanne Torres filed the federal lawsuit last week, The Albuquerque Journal (https://bit.ly/2efF2Jp ) reported.
State Police said Torres was driving toward the officers at high speed when they opened fire, hitting her in the back twice.
Torres’ attorney, Eric Dixon, says Torres was actually trying to leave the area because she believed she was being carjacked. The officers were beside the vehicle and not in danger of being hit, according to Dixon.
Torres was sleeping in her vehicle in a parking lot and awoke when the officers tried to enter it, according to the suit. Torres says officers Janice Madrid and Richard Williamson were wearing dark clothing and tactical vests, making it impossible for her to identify them as police.
“Instead of calmly identifying themselves,” Dixon said, “they pulled out their pistols and unloaded on an unarmed, terrified woman.”
Dixon said Torres was severely injured by the incident and can no longer work.
A review of the shooting by the Second Judicial District Attorney’s Office found that Madrid and Williamson were wearing vests that included police patches and their badges. The office announced in August that it would not file charges against the officers.
Torres also got into the vehicle as police tried to make contact with her, according to a report by the district attorney’s office.
Torres pleaded no contest in March 2015 to fleeing a law enforcement officer, assault on an officer and unlawful taking of a motor vehicle, according to court records.
State Police spokeswoman Sgt. Elizabeth Armijo said the agency does not comment on pending lawsuits.
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Information from: Albuquerque Journal, https://www.abqjournal.com
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