Brothers pursue truck hauling stolen excavator, then shots ring out, New Mexico cops say
A man is dead and another man is facing a second-degree murder charge after a shooting apparently sparked by the theft of a trailer and excavator, officials in New Mexico said.
Miguel Varela, 22, of Albuquerque, made a first appearance in court Jan. 21, a court official said. A defense attorney didn’t appear to be listed in online court records.
Varela is accused of firing multiple shots at Isidro Ramirez, who deputies said was hauling the trailer and excavator in a stolen pickup truck.
Deputies found Ramirez with at least one gunshot wound in the driver’s seat of a truck in the Jan. 19 incident, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.
They “attempted life saving measures,” but Ramirez died at the scene, according to the sheriff’s office.
He had a gun in his waistband, according to a court filing.
Varela’s brother called deputies at about 11 a.m. Jan. 19 to say he was following a truck that was pulling the stolen trailer and earth-moving equipment, deputies said.
The brother had also called Varela, who told deputies that upon his arrival he “went head on with” the truck “in attempt to stop it,” according to the court filing.
He saw the driver put the truck in reverse and reach for something, and “he fired eight times because he panicked and thought the driver was reaching for a weapon,” the filing said.
He said he didn’t see anything in the hands of the driver or passenger, the filing said.
This story was originally published January 21, 2025 at 4:28 PM with the headline "Brothers pursue truck hauling stolen excavator, then shots ring out, New Mexico cops say."
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