APD shooting suit set for federal trial

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Five years after an Albuquerque officer shot and killed a suspected car thief, a lawsuit in his name is about to be heard by a federal Jury.

From the beginning the family of Carlos Archuleta Jr., 34, cried foul after he was shot and killed in January 2007.

"I’m holding Ray Schultz, Chief Schultz, personally responsible,” Larry Archuleta Sr. told KRQE News 13 in 2007. "He should have done something about this man the first time this happened."

The man he was referring to was Albuquerque Police Department Officer Angelo Lovato.

Lovato shot and killed Archuleta after a short chase near Rio Grande Boulevard NW and Indian School Road.

Police said Archuleta was driving a stolen pick up truck and trailer.

Lovato reported Archuleta refused commands and then lunged at him with a screwdriver from the driver’s seat while also reaching for a gun. That’s when Lovato said he opened fire.

“There are procedures before you have to take deadly force against a person with a screwdriver,” Archuleta’s father said.

The family filed a federal lawsuit against APD claiming civil rights violations and seeking $5 million in damages.

The lawsuit claims APD failed to adequately hire and train its officers and fostered an atmosphere of excessive use of force.

Albuquerque police have said from the beginning it was a good shoot.

“We had a stolen truck. We had a stolen trailer. We had stolen license plates," Schultz said shortly after the shooting. "They were out trying to steal more cars, and they were armed with firearms.

"They had extensive criminal histories. These are bad people."

Archuleta’s father conceded his son was no angel but he said he did not deserve to die like that.

It turns out the gun was not loaded, but city attorneys said this was a clear case of self-defense and a justified shooting.

This case will head to trial in early August.

If this lawsuit were to be heard in state District Court and the city lost, the payout would be capped at $400,000 as happened with a family's lawsuit against APD last year.

However, since this is a federal lawsuit, an award for damages could run into the millions.