Two officers scuffle at wine festival

BERNALILLO, NM - State Police are trying to find out what exactly happened at the Bernalillo Wine Festival Sunday when a uniformed cop apparently attacked a well known Rio Rancho officer who was working undercover.

Rio Rancho Police Chief Robert Boone said, “His responsibilities were to be there in a plain clothes capacity to determine if any violations were occurring particularly referring to underage drinking.”

John Francis, a veteran of the Rio Rancho force, said he saw a couple fighting at the festival, identified himself and tried to stop it.

Chief Boone said Francis called for uniformed backup.

Boone said the Bernalillo City cop who responded, talked to the fighting couple's friends, then suddenly turned on Francis.

“The uniform officer came and immediately grabbed John and started to forcefully remove him from that area and place him into an arm bar,” Boone said.

State Police broke it up, and are now investigating the incident.

Bernalillo police have not responded to our calls for comment.