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Las Cruces Officers Cleared In December Shooting

  The Third Judicial District Attorney’s Office has determined that the three Las Cruces police officers involved in the Dec. 22 fatal shooting of 29-year-old Jose Salas responded professionally, and in accordance with standard rules and procedures of law enforcement.

The District Attorney’s concluded that the two shooting incidents, the first by officer Joaquin Legaretta and the second by officer Joseph Campa and Sgt. Patrick Doyle, “were justified under New Mexico law.”

District Attorney Mark D’Antonio said that his office, “will not be taking any action against the officers, as their actions were justified.”

The three LCPD officers were placed on administrative leave shortly after the shooting but have since returned to duty. Legaretta and Doyle have been with LCPD since 2004. Campa has been an LCPD officer since 2011.

At around noon Dec. 22, 2014, Las Cruces Police officers were dispatched to the report of an affray involving at least two people off La Fonda Drive. The investigation revealed that officer Legaretta arrived in an unmarked police unit. As the officer tried to determine the involvement of several individuals at the scene, Salas assaulted the officer and then displayed a knife.

Salas refused to comply with Legaretta’s commands and led the officer on a brief foot pursuit. Salas then entered Legaretta’s unmarked police vehicle and began to drive recklessly in the parking lot.

At that point Legaretta fired at least one round at Salas in an attempt to stop his action. Salas then drove the stolen unit onto La Fonda Drive and into a concrete drainage canal as he fled the area.

Officers located the stolen vehicle near Utah Court and observed a man fitting Salas’ description running through Valley View Park near Espina Street and Colorado Avenue, before he entered a drainage pipe system underneath the park. LCPD’s SWAT team, along with officers from the U.S. Marshals Service, New Mexico State Police, Border Patrol and New Mexico Motor Transportation Division arrived to assist, and help secure the drainage systems entrances and exits.

Officers tried several times to locate or make contact with Salas but to no avail. After more than an hour Salas, now armed with a 9 mm handgun taken from Legaretta’s vehicle, emerged from one of the drains on the east side of Espina Street. Officers gave Salas several commands to drop the weapon but he refused.

Salas began to run east in the drainage canal toward a more populated area where several civilians had gathered. Officer Campa and Sgt. Doyle fired at least one round each at Salas, striking the suspect in the torso. The investigation determined that Salas then turned the stolen handgun on himself and fired one round that proved to be fatal.

The incident was investigated by the Officer-involved Shooting Task Force comprised of investigators from New Mexico State Police, Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office, New Mexico State University Police and Las Cruces Police. Results of the investigation were then submitted to the District Attorney’s office.

Information from Las Cruces Police