An Española City Police officer initially arrested a man for “bugging customers” in the Walmart parking lot after he had been trespassed from the company’s property, then charged him with drug possession following a search.
Officer Andrew O’Hara charged Shawn Carney, 29, of Medanales, with possession of drug paraphernalia and criminal trespass, both misdemeanors; and possession of a controlled substance: cocaine, a fourth-degree felony, on Feb. 20.
O’Hara wrote in a criminal complaint for Carney’s arrest that he was sent to Walmart at 8:21 p.m. and talked to the security officer, “Joel,” who told him that Carney had been trespassed, asked to leave, and wouldn’t.
When O’Hara confronted Carney in the parking lot, he allegedly told the officer that Walmart lifted the trespass order and O’Hara had dispatchers check to see if the order was still in place. It was. O’Hara then arrested Carney on the trespassing charge, O’Hara wrote.
When he searched Carney, he found white powder wrapped in foil, which he opined was cocaine, he wrote.
O’Hara previously arrested Carney on Jan. 7 on criminal trespass and drug charges for standing in front of the Speedway gas station. That case is still pending.
Española Police Sgt. Cody Martinez arrested Carney on a trespassing charge for being in the Speedway parking lot on April 5, 2024, after being trespassed, and found what he assumed to be a fentanyl pill on him. Carney pleaded guilty to attempted possession of a controlled substance in that case and received a deferred sentence.