Man suing officers involved in shoot-out in Rio Rancho Walmart parking lot

RIO RANCHO, N.M. (KRQE) – Rio Rancho police officers shot at a man in a Walmart parking lot near Unser and Southern. Now, that man is suing those officers saying they violated his civil rights by not announcing themselves and endangering bystanders.

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“We don’t want people getting shot at a Walmart parking lot when they’re trying to go shopping,” said Ramón A. Soto, The Soto Law Office, one of the lawyers representing Cheyne Estrada.

Police suspected 22-year-old Cheyne Estrada was responsible for a string of burglaries. In body camera footage, the officers approached him as he walked to a blue Honda Civic. One officer said, “Hey stand right there.” Then the officers raced to Estrada’s driver’s side, trying to pull him out of the car, and yelled, “Get out, get out.”

That’s when the sound of Estrada firing a gun into the ground causes officers to retreat. They fired back and said, “Shots fired, shots fired.”

Estrada’s lawyers emphasized the importance of officers making citizens aware of their credentials. “So, when you approach someone from the back and then the officers don’t announce themselves. You’re going to think they’re not cops, right? You’re going to think that someone is robbing you or something,” said Soto.

The criminal complaint showed police interviewed Estrada who at first said he did not know they were officers but later admitted he “knew officers were trying to stop him.”

Estrada’s legal team says the goal of the lawsuit is to compensate him for the damages and injuries he suffered and hold officers accountable. “We all care about our community and when it comes to officer actions with suspects, we just want to make sure that the community at large is also not affected as a form of collateral damage. As well as making sure that our law enforcement abides by the rules,” said Taylor Smith, Smith & Marjanovic Law, another lawyer for Cheyne Estrada.

Estrada’s wife and child were in the car at the time of the shootout. Estrada was shot but made his way to his apartment in Albuquerque where he was later arrested. Estrada pled guilty to two counts of aggravated assault on a peace officer with a deadly weapon and remains behind bars.

The Rio Rancho Police Department said they cannot comment on pending litigation but that both Officer Christopher Ault and Officer Justin Salido are still on the job.

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