ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A bizarre car crash involving APD’s chief of police left one man in the hospital. 

Police say Chief Harold Medina and his wife were on their way to a city press conference Saturday morning, when Medina spotted a homeless encampment on Central, blocking the sidewalk.

Police say a fight broke out between two people nearby and someone pulled out a gun. To avoid the situation, police say the chief ran a red light, crashing into another car.  

At last check, police are looking for the two people involved in the fight.

Many of you have reached out to ask if what happened this weekend violates any APD policies, especially since it involves the chief of police. So, KOB 4 took your questions to APD. 

The fact that Medina had his wife in his unmarked APD car does not violate policy. It would violate policy if Medina was responding to a felony or emergency response, but Medina was not responding to a call.

According to APD’s standard operating procedures, if an officer has a non-sworn passenger with them when they get a felony or emergency call, they have to drop off the passenger first and then respond.

APD made it clear Medina was not responding to a call.

The Office of the Superintendent of Police Reform opened an Internal Affairs review to see if Medina violated any policies. We’re told that the review was at the chief’s request.

APD Communications Director Gilbert Gallegos explained how quickly everything happened Saturday.

“It just happened in front of him. So as that was happening, he was actually, he never called for help. He was turning on his radio. And that’s when his wife saw them, the muzzle of the gun pointed at them. That’s what she perceived. And then they heard the shots fired, and he just stepped on the gas to get out of the situation,” Gallegos said.

Another aspect of policy to consider is Medina’s lapel video. KOB 4 reached out to APD, and they said Medina did not activate his body camera during the incident. That’s something Internal Affairs will be looking into.

KOB 4 was told that Medina powered on his camera after the crash, but it’s not clear if it recorded anything.

APD says investigators will determine which policies and procedures apply to Medina, who, unlike patrol officers, does not respond to calls for service.

Medina will often arrive at scenes, but APD says that’s to support responding officers rather than respond to the call himself. APD also says Medina attends events that are often outside of work hours and his wife might be with him.

On Saturday, Medina and his wife were planning on having breakfast together after the scheduled news conference that was canceled because of the shooting and crash.

The driver that was hit went to the hospital with serious injuries. The chief, his wife, and the target of the shooting were all OK.