NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – Lapel and dash cam footage from the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office shows a hectic scene outside Route 66 Casino Hotel, as a woman refuses to leave the property, rams police vehicles with her car, speeds off, and ends up driving off a roadway. On August 4, deputies were called out to the casino where Laguna police officers were attempting to get 30-year-old Jenae Padilla, who was parked out front, to cooperate.
Newly-received BCSO lapel video shows deputies requesting Padilla get out of her vehicle multiple times. Padilla can also be seen swatting at a deputy’s lock-out bar as they attempted to get access to her vehicle. That’s when Padilla tried to make a break for it, first backing up into a Laguna Police unit, then driving forward into a casino security vehicle.
Police then can be seen attempting to break Padilla’s driver’s side window. After multiple attempts, the glass breaks and Padilla again tries to drive out of the area.
Video shows Padilla driving back and forth multiple times, almost hitting police and deputies, before fleeing the casino and heading south. A criminal complaint states deputies were able to catch up to Padilla after she crashed into a guard rail and went off the road near Rio Puerco and I-40.
The complaint states that since Padilla is a non-Native and the Laguna officers involved were not federally certified, they were unable to arrest her. BCSO arrested and charged Padilla with aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated assault against a peace officer, aggravated fleeing, criminal damage to property, resisting, evading, or eluding an officer, and leaving the scene of an accident.
Online records show that on August 8, Padilla’s case was transferred to the district court. In an arraignment on August 26, Padilla pleaded not guilty to the charges. A scheduling conference in this case is set for September 13.
Padilla has a history of battery charges. Court records show in May of 2015, she was charged with two counts of battery on a peace officer and two counts of battery on a health care worker. Those charges were dropped after Padilla met the requirements of her release. She was also charged in August of 2016 again with two counts of battery upon a peace officer and one charge of battery upon a health care worker. Those charges were dismissed by the prosecutor when Padilla posted bond and was never reset for a preliminary hearing.
