New Mexico State Police officers arrested a Velarde woman after she pointed a gun at her neighbor’s family, telling police she had “a lot going on.”
State Police Officer Jacob Pino arrested Florence Sanchez, 49, on April 20 and charged her with five counts of assault with a deadly weapon for each adult family member she allegedly pointed the gun at and one count of child abuse for pointing the gun at a child.
Pino wrote in a criminal complaint that he was called to the house on Private Drive 1041 in the afternoon after the neighbor called 911.
“(Neighbor) stated that she had her family over for the Easter holiday,” Pino wrote. “As she opened the front door to greet them, she observed her neighbor, Florence Sanchez, waving a black-colored handgun in the air. (Neighbor) reported that Florence then pointed the firearm in the direction of her and her family.”
She told Pino that everyone “dropped to the ground for safety” as soon as Sanchez allegedly pointed the gun at them, he wrote.
Then, she called 911, he wrote.
Pino went to Sanchez’s house and when she opened the door, she was “visibly emotional and crying,” he wrote.
“I asked Florence if she was okay, to which she responded that she had ‘a lot going on,’” he wrote.
Pino explained why he was there and she said repeatedly that Pino should get her neighbor’s statement. Then, he read her a Miranda Warning, including the right to remain silent, and she said she didn’t want to talk to him anymore, he wrote.
He arrested her on the six charges.
Afterward, Rio Arriba Magistrate Judge Joseph Madrid was “contacted” because of the “circumstances and events occurring in Rio Arriba County,” mainly, Easter. Madrid ordered Sanchez released and a summons was issued for her later arraignment.
She is set to be arraigned later this month.