Boomtown court report for April and May 2025
Shots fired from Los Alamos hotel; ‘God’ accused of attacking police officer
Editor’s note: The following is a collection of recent arrests in the area that resulted in the filing of criminal charges. The information, presented without names or photos of those involved, is meant to inform residents about patterns of criminal activity, safety concerns, and police responses in our area while avoiding unnecessary stigmatization. Each entry includes the date, location, and basic details of incidents as presented in sworn affidavits filed in Los Alamos Magistrate Court, unless otherwise noted. Any charges detailed within are merely accusations and those charged will have the opportunity to defend against the charges in the court.
Man accused of firing multiple shots from Los Alamos hotel window
Police responded to a hotel on Trinity Drive just after midnight on April 1 to a report of shots fired. An arriving officer heard a single gunshot, and another officer detained a 40-year-old Los Alamos man in a first-floor hallway of the hotel, near an open door to a room. The man allegedly told police, “That guy is going to shoot people.” Officers asked him who he was referring to and the man look down the hallway and said, “That guy.” No one was in the hallway, according to police.
Inside the hotel room, police located multiple bullet holes in the window frame and screen, along with holes in the curtains. Police administered a breath test that indicated his blood alcohol content was .17; the legal limit in New Mexico is .08. He was charged with felony shooting at dwelling or occupied building, felony shooting at a motor vehicle, felony criminal damage to property, misdemeanor criminal damage to property, misdemeanor negligent discharge of a deadly weapon, and misdemeanor negligent use of a deadly weapon while intoxicated. The case has been transferred to the First Judicial District Court for trial.
Driver in White Rock arrested on warrant now charged with attempting to bring drugs into jail
Police stopped a driver in White Rock around 1 p.m. on April 10 for “looking out the passenger side of the vehicle, seemingly at the residences he was passing,” according to an affidavit. The 44-year-old man was taken into custody on an active arrest warrant from Santa Fe County. He was booked into the Los Alamos County Detention Center where staff members located a small amount of methamphetamine in his wallet.
The man was charged with possession of a controlled substance and bringing contraband into a jail, both felonies. A status hearing in the case is scheduled for Nov. 3.
Woman accused of kicking a police officer
A Los Alamos Police officer responded just after 9 p.m. April 12 to a call about a woman in crisis who’d cut herself with a knife. Firefighters placed her on a gurney for transport to Los Alamos Medical Center, but she started struggling and trying to get off the gurney, according to an affidavit. When the officer attempted to help firefighters get her onto the gurney, the woman allegedly kicked the officer twice, once in the stomach and once in a leg.
The woman was arrested and charged with felony battery upon a peace officer. A status hearing in the case is scheduled for June 9.
Police allege patient battery on a nurse
Police responded to the Los Alamos Medical Center just before midnight on April 14 after hospital staff reported that a 62-year-old man had acted belligerently toward nurses and ultimately slammed his chest into one of them, according to an affidavit.
Medical staff told police the man had been causing a disturbance in the ER while staff attempted to treat him, and that as a female nurse attempted to escort the man out of the building, he slammed into the woman with his body. The man told police the nurse had instead slammed into him so she could claim he’d assaulted her. Hewas arrested on a charge of battery upon a health care worker.
Bright headlights lead to DWI arrest in White Rock
Just after midnight on April 19, a law enforcement officer passed a vehicle traveling on NM 4 near White Rock that appeared to have its high beams on. The officer flashed their high beams at the driver to indicate they needed to dim the lights, but the other vehicle did not switch off their high beams. Police pulled the vehicle over as it turned onto Rover Boulevard, and an officer smelled an odor of alcohol on the driver, a 63-year-old man from White Rock, an affidavit stated.
Police administered a series of roadside sobriety tests, which he allegedly performed poorly on. He was then given a breath test that indicated his blood alcohol content was .09; the legal limit in New Mexico is .08. The man was charged with misdemeanor DWI and cited for failure to dim headlights.
Man accused of draining someone’s checking account through casino ATM withdrawals
A 55-year-old man is facing charges of fraud and money laundering for allegedly using someone else’s debit card to withdraw thousands of dollars from ATMs at area casinos.
The alleged fraud spans from December 2024 to February 2025, and Los Alamos police began an investigation in March, court records show. That investigation began after a couple contacted Los Alamos police to report that someone had withdrawn almost $4,000 from their credit union, nearly all the money held in the checking account.
Police reviewed bank statements that showed multiple cash withdrawals made at casinos in Santa Fe County and Rio Arriba County, and through the investigation, police determined that a debit card for the account had been mailed to a former Los Alamos address of the account holder, and that soon after it arrived, the card was activated by an unintended recipient.
The man who received the card in error was arrested in late April and charged with felony fraud along with a misdemeanor charge for fraudulently taking a credit card and two misdemeanor counts of money laundering. He was released from jail on recognizance, and the case was transferred to the First Judicial District Court for trial.
‘God’ accused of battery of a cop
Los Alamos police responded to a disturbance at an apartment complex around 7:30 p.m. on May 12 where a 55-year-old man who identified himself as “God” approached officers on his knees. The man then allegedly attempted to grab an officer’s body camera. When the man stood and grabbed at the officer again, the officer grabbed the man’s wrist, placed him in an arm bar, and “assisted” him to the ground “and into a small bush,” according to an affidavit.
The man was evaluated by paramedics and determined to have low blood sugar, and he admitted he’d been drinking gin and smoking cannabis. He was transported to Los Alamos Medical Center and later charged with felony battery upon a peace officer. He is scheduled to appear in court June 2.
You buried the lede, Ryan! Don’t you think that God, the creator of the universe, revealing himself to Los Alamos police is a bigger deal?
any chance we can get restaurant inspection results? seems to not be available to the public.... not sure why??