Car Thief Shoots at Cops and Witnesses to Avoid Capture
By: ABQRAW staff
Posted: 3/8/2023 @ 3:33PM
Fabian Gutierrez, 30
Albuquerque – Last night APD officers encountered a repeat car thief who refused to give up without deadly intentions. APD officials announced that their officers were alerted about a pair of stolen vehicles at I-25 and the exit to San Mateo/Osuna Rd NE. As officers approached the area they witnessed a shooting involving the vehicles.
The overnight incident started after midnight when police responded to a report of a stolen vehicle near I-40 and Carlisle Blvd., N.E. The victim of the auto theft was following his vehicle through a tracking device app. A second stolen vehicle was also with the first one as part of a car theft crew working together.
The suspect noticed he was being tracked and shot from the stolen car toward the victim on Osuna Rd, after exiting northbound I-25. Officers later found a bullet casing on Osuna involved in the shooting. Officers attempted a traffic stop on the stolen car, but it looped around and entered I-25 now heading southbound.
Officers believe the suspect tossed his gun from the vehicle anywhere from the Osuna on-ramp to southbound I-25, through the Big-I to westbound I-40, through the I-40-Coors Blvd. interchange, heading southbound to Central Ave.
At one point during the pursuit the stolen vehicles engine started to fail as the suspect drove westbound on I-40 between 6th St and 12th St. Officers observed sparks on the roadway, and they believe the gun may have been tossed at that point.
APD tells us that after the dust and gunpowder cleared the car thief suspect, Fabian Gutierrez, was arrested after a pursuit through Albuquerque. Auto theft detectives identified Gutierrez, 32, as the same exact suspect of a similar incident back in December 2022 where he fired shots at an APD officer during that incident.
Gutierrez is now charged with Receiving/Transferring a Motor Vehicle; Aggravated fleeing from an officer; Felon in possession of a firearm; Shooting at or from a Motor Vehicle w/o Great Bodily Harm; and an unrelated Felony Warrant.