New body cam video shows police chase, shots fired at officers

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – New police body camera video shows what it was like for officers to respond to a chaotic situation this week.

Police say a man was tracking his stolen car when the thief shot at the victim, and Albuquerque police.

Officials say this is a good reminder that you never know if and when a suspect has a gun.

Just after midnight on Wednesday the victim of a car theft called police telling them he was following his stolen car.

“I have a tracker inside the vehicle, Okay, so I have its live location.”

While having a GPS tracker in your car can help police, APD is reminding folks not to take justice into your own hands.

“It can be very dangerous if drivers take it on their own accord to go try and find these offenders, and we saw in this case this guy was armed, and we are seeing that much more often with auto theft offenders,” said Gilbert Gallegos, an APD public information officer.  

The victim in this case was giving updates on where his car was while he wasn’t far behind.

“The Smiths on Carlisle and Constitution. ‘Hold on it may be them calling, okay yeah, disconnect the call from me and get on the phone with them.’”

According to police, shortly after he hung up with 911 the suspect opened fire at both the victim and police.

“As that vehicle exited San Mateo, Osuna area – kind of the northeast valley area command – that’s when they witnessed a shot being fired from the offender vehicle,” said Gallegos.

The chase went up I-25 until the suspect was eventually stopped by a PIT maneuver and the car came to a stop in the median.

Police were able to arrest the driver – 32-year-old Fabian Gutierrez—who also had multiple felony warrants out for his arrest. But what they didn’t find in the stolen car was the gun, and they think he tried to ditch it.

“Yeah I think he tossed it I was trying to keep eyes to see if he tossed anything. I heard some sparks fly a few miles back.”

“Finding the gun is very important because it shows we could match it to that casing potentially, and then we can match the gun and see if it was involved in any other shootings,” said Gallegos.   

Police continued to look throughout the night, but it wasn’t until the next morning when APD got a call from another city department.

“We’re glad we found the gun, that city worker found on 12th street and I-40 westbound which is what officers thought they saw,” Gallegos said.

While an arrest was made this investigation isn’t over yet. Police say they don’t believe Gutierrez was working alone, and they are working to find his accomplices. 

For now, Gutierrez is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center on multiple charges including assault, transfer of a stolen vehicle, firing a gun from a moving vehicle, and felon in possession of a firearm.