CRIME
Three teens allegedly beat up youth corrections officer
Two of the suspects are facing murder charges in other cases, according to court records
A Youth Development and Diagnostic Center corrections officer received non-life-threatening injuries after he was reportedly attacked by three juveniles inside the facility on Saturday.
Adrian Brown, 18, Justice Sanchez, 18, and Ezekiel Ulibarri, 18, are charged with aggravated battery upon a peace officer (no great bodily harm). Brown and Ulibarri are from Albuquerque while Sanchez hails from Farmington.
While all three are being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center, two of them are facing murder charges in other cases.
Brown is accused of gunning down an unhoused man near an Albuquerque arroyo almost a year ago. He has a pretrial conference scheduled for July, according to court records. Ulibarri is accused of being an accomplice in the 2025 fatal shooting of 17-year-old Angelo Tafoya during a robbery. Court records state he has a pretrial conference scheduled for November.
Attorneys for Brown and Ulibarri could not be reached as of Sunday afternoon.
At about 4:27 p.m. Saturday, the New Mexico State Police received a call of a correctional officer 鈥渨ho had been jumped and attacked by three individuals who are now over 18 years of age,鈥 according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. Police then learned the teens had since been 鈥渟ecured in their rooms鈥 while the officer 鈥渨as stable,鈥 police said.
The corrections officer told police the teens had left the break room and entered Ulibarri鈥檚 room when the officer opened the door and the men 鈥渞aised their arms and began to fight,鈥 the complaint states. The officer told police Sanchez threw the first punch then Brown and Ulibarri 鈥渂egan hitting him as well,鈥 police said.
鈥(The officer) then stated that he grabbed Justice and placed him on the ground; however, the other two continued punching him while he was on the ground, and Justice was also hitting him as they were both on the ground,鈥 according to the complaint. A few seconds later, another officer came and separated the men, police said.
Security footage later showed that after the teens locked themselves in the cell, the officer attempted to speak with them. When he opened the cell he was attacked, the complaint states.
Police said the officer had redness on his face and he was evaluated by emergency medical services personnel before telling police he would go to a hospital because his head was hurting, the complaint states.
Gregory R.C. Hasman is a general assignment reporter and the Road Warrior. He can be reached at ghasman@abqjournal.com or 505-823-3820.