By Lauren Lifke
An Albuquerque man was arrested on Monday, Oct. 13, after allegedly using a hatchet to threaten three women in Rio Rancho.
Officers responded to the Eye Associates of New Mexico at about 8:30 a.m. to a call about a man threatening three women in their car. The caller said she, her mother and her aunt were driving to the Eye Associates of New Mexico when a car pulled out in front of them, according to the police report. They pulled over to allow the car to pass, but it instead “aggressively followed” the women to the Eye Associates.
The caller said she and the two other women parked in a handicap parking space to allow for the aunt to get out of the vehicle, and the man parked next to them, according to the police report. As they assisted the aunt, the suspect approached them and said that the caller had tried to kill him. The three women got back in their car, and the caller saw the suspect go back to his car. She called 911 as she saw the suspect come out with a silver hatchet.
The caller said he tapped the window with the hatchet and was saying something that she couldn’t hear. The three women left the parking lot and met officers at a different location, according to the report.
When officers arrived to the parking lot of the Eye Associates of New Mexico, the suspect had his hands up with the hatchet on the ground near him, and officers arrested him.