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New Mexico Cops Release Details on Shootout With Suspect at Casino Lot

New information from New Mexico authorities indicates that while in a lot at Sandia Resort & Casino, a prisoner fired two bullets at officers before they returned back.

KOAT, an Albuquerque television station, said that Nicolas Roach, the 35-year-old suspected gunman, sustained injuries to his right arm, mouth, and back during the standoff on April 30.

After sustaining serious injuries, Roach spent ten days in the hospital before being taken into custody at a nearby jail.

According to preliminary reports, none of the four officers from the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) were hurt.

Officers had been looking for Roach for days before to the gunfight. They looked at the license plate of a suspicious-looking car just before the altercation. Someone had reported it stolen.

Driving the stolen Hyundai south of the casino was Roach, according to a recently released APD video. When Roach saw the policemen, he ran away and finally drove into the casino lot, according to the police.

He sprang from the Hyundai and got into another car. Roach started to drive away and refused to give up, but the officers stopped it by applying a grappler to the tire.

There was a gunshot exchange after that.

"We knew he had warrants, and we knew the general area he operated in,” APD Commander Kyle Hartsock was quoted by KOAT about the apprehension. “It was at least several days that detectives working in specific operation plans and different hours of the day had been trying to locate him.”

Roach was a notorious auto thief and was wanted on a probation violation warrant, according to the police.

In the car were two women

Two women were seen by police in the stopped SUV that Roach was operating. The women got out of the car and turned themselves in in the parking lot. Auto theft was the charge brought against Amanda Hand, 34, according to the Albuquerque Journal. The identity of the second woman that the police detained was withheld.

Authorities claimed to have found a 45-caliber handgun in Roach's SUV during the gunfight. According to New Mexico TV station KRQE, officers also discovered suspected methamphetamine (meth) and instruments used in auto theft in the SUV.

In a local court, Roach will be charged and prosecuted. The Journal claims that he had served time in prison in the past.

The tribal casino in Albuquerque is owned and run by the Pueblo of Sandia.

Greater Penalties Are Required

Following the event, APD Chief Harold Medina declared that the state should toughen its laws against auto theft.

“We need … assistance from … legislative bodies to make sure that individuals who are committing auto theft in order to use that motor vehicle to go commit other crimes have to be held to a higher level,” Medina told KOAT.