Friday’s Top Stories

Friday’s Five Facts

[1] APD investigating whether tear gas canister started housefire after teen found dead – APD is looking into whether a tear-gas canister thrown into a home by officers during a SWAT situation could be to blame for a fire that killed a juvenile, believed to be 14-years-old. Wednesday night when officers were looking for a man with warrants out for his arrest. They tracked that suspect, 27-year-old Qiaunt Kelly, to a neighborhood in southeast Albuquerque. APD says as officers closed in, Kelly and his friend, believed to be 14, ran into a home. SWAT officers tried to draw Kelly out by throwing tear-gas canisters inside. APD Chief Harold Medina says more than an hour after throwing the canisters they saw smoke and realized the house was on fire. AFR was called to fight the fire. Kelly came out and was arrested. His friend was found dead inside. Officers are working to identify him. AFR’s arson unit is investigating the cause of the fire.

[2] Man accused of throwing Molotov cocktail asks to be released from jail – A man accused of terrorizing his neighbors is asking the be released while awaiting trial. Arthur Aragon is accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail in his neighbors backyard. Now in federal custody, his attorneys are asking he be released to his father because he’s not getting the medical help he needs. The state argued that his father owns the home where it all took place and says he could be free to terrorize them again.

[3] Weekend storms and hot temperatures – Friday will stay dry in the Four Corners, west high terrain, and middle/upper Rio Grande Valley. Storms will develop in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Sacramento and Gila mountains during the early afternoon. Storms will move south off of the Sangre de Cristo Mtns, and southwest off the southern mountains. This will bring the chance for heavy downpours to the northeast highlands, east plains and much of southern NM. The Rio Grande Valley and west mountains will see a higher chance for storms this weekend. Eastern NM will dry out on Saturday and especially Sunday. Temperatures will stay hot all weekend.

[4] Abandoned store brings problems to Albuquerque neighborhood – Residents in southeast Albuquerque are waiting for the city to respond after numerous complaints of a problem property. An old gas station near San Pedro and Eastern has been vacant for about four years. The parking lot is covered in dirty clothes and drug paraphernalia. The alleyway behind the vacant building looks like a dump. Piles of trash are collecting in the corners, somebody has even dumped old tires back there. Nearby neighbors feel like the city is neglecting the issue because it’s a lower-income area. They say someone needs to be held accountable.

[5] VIDEO: Santa Fe Police rescue owl trapped in soccer net – An owl in Santa Fe is free after wildlife officers pulled it from a soccer net at Capital High School just before 8 a.m. Thursday morning. It took the officer about 30 minutes to free the owl. They say the owl was put in a cage and taken to a safe location where it was set free.