Vehicle in shooting involved in high speed chase

CLOVIS — The vehicle from which Aaron Chavez fled in the moments before an officer shot him to death Oct. 8 was reported stolen the day before. It had been involved in a high speed chase that evening in Portales, according to police records.

Officials last week released over 150 pages of documents attendant to New Mexico State Police’s investigation of the incident last year in which Clovis Police Officer Brent Aguilar fatally shot Chavez, 22, four times during a foot pursuit south of the Prince Street overpass. Those records offer some additional detail as to what may have transpired in the 24 hours before Chavez’ death.

A wrongful death lawsuit by Chavez’ father is still pending in courts, but Aguilar returned to duty about a week after the shooting and last month prosecutors said they would not pursue criminal charges in connection with the incident.

Videos from Aguilar’s lapel camera and his subsequent interview with NMSP were also released last week through The News’ Inspection of Public Records request.

The shooting itself took place in the early minutes after midnight on Oct. 8, just north of the intersection of South Prince Street and East Brady Avenue. CPD Officer Dagoberto Rodriguez was en route to a report of shots fired at an address near that intersection when he spotted a blue Mitsubishi Eclipse straddling the curb and northbound lane of Prince Street. He recognized that car was recently reported as stolen, the reports show.

Aguilar, who was following close behind Rodriguez, joined the pursuit and sprinted toward Chavez, stopping abruptly when Chavez brandished what Aguilar believed to be a knife. Telling investigators in a tearful interview days later, Aguilar said he was in fear for his life when he unholstered his weapon and shot Chavez four times in response..

A CPD incident report activated Oct. 7 alleged Chavez had stolen the Eclipse around 1:30 a.m. that day from outside a residence on the 1200 block of Jones Street. The vehicle’s owner “stated that he picked up Aaron earlier at the Sedona apartments because Aaron had stated he needed a ride, in order to find a place to stay” but that Chavez left with the car when he went inside the Jones Street residence “to pick up some food.”

The father of the vehicle’s owner confirmed that much with police during an interview the morning after the shooting inside a nearby gas station. That man told police he initially went out in search of the vehicle and found it at the apartments on the 1000 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

“He said he got out to speak with Mr. Chavez and Mr. Chavez saw him and left driving the vehicle through an alley at a high rate of speed,” NMSP Officer Chester Bobbitt wrote of the interview. “He said he tried to catch up to Mr. Chavez but lost him around Manana Street.”

Records show only one other possible sighting of that vehicle prior to the shooting, just before 5 p.m. in Portales. A narrative from Roosevelt County Sheriff Deputy Rowdy Smith described a high-speed chase with a “royal blue Mitsubishi Eclipse” originating then at the parking lot of a business near the intersection of East Spruce and North Kilgore streets.

Smith wrote that he “was unable to get the license plate number of the vehicle due to the angle” but “could see that it was occupied by one Hispanic male wearing a black ballcap with a white brim...” In the ensuing chase, the driver of the eclipse “took the first curve on (New Mexico) 88 heading south traveling about 60 mph and unable to maintain his lane” and “started forcing other vehicle(s) traveling both directions off the road.”

Smith terminated that pursuit “due to the dangerous driving behavior and the amount (of) vehicles on the road way,” records show.

Investigators logged into evidence an all-white ballcap, along with a key fob, a cell phone and a pair of shoes that appear to have fallen off Chavez’ feet when he first started to run from the car. They also located beside Chavez’ body a “metal chainsaw chain” with a “fashioned metal grip handle at the end of the chain.” A panel of district attorneys pointed to that item in determining Aguilar’s “use of deadly force was reasonably necessary.”

“Using software to view Officer Aguilar’s lapel camera recording of this incident in slow motion, the object that Mr. Chavez swung at Officer Aguilar appears consistent with a weapon later found near Mr. Chavez’ body,” said the March 25 letter of recommendations from the trio of prosecutors located elsewhere in the state.

District Attorney Andrea Reeb followed that recommendation and said last month she would not pursue criminal charges.

No other weapons were located on Chavez’ person or inside the car.

Arturo Nieto, representing Chavez’ father on the pending wrongful death lawsuit filed last year, did not respond to messages from The News seeking comment. The most recent online records for that case show it was reassigned to Judge Fred Van Soelen after Matthew Chandler was recused.