Padilla's Gang Leaders in Custody

Albuquerque, NM - Police said they arrested two gang leaders during a South Valley raid. The alleged leader of the South Valley Los Padillas gang, Jerry Padilla Jr, 42, and his 25-year-old son are being held without bond until a preliminary hearing Monday in federal court.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel Schnieder ordered Padilla Jr. and Jerry Padilla III to be held in a federal holding facility over the weekend while they work out arrangements for legal representation.

The elder Padilla is charged with three counts of distributing cocaine, and his son is charged with one count.

The federal charges stem from alleged undercover drug purchases made last spring, according to criminal complaints filed in federal court.

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Tom Thumbs Donuts

What is the most photographed event in the US?

The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta?

You would think. How about some APD officers in line for doughnuts at the Tom Thumb Donuts stand?

Yours truly caught in the act while taking a break from working double shifts and some very longs hours directing traffic.

I turned and saw a few tourist with their cameras pointed at our direction. I though to myself "why are they taking pictures of us?" The hot air balloons are in the opposite direction.



Lesson learned; avoid the doughnuts shops at the balloon fiesta because everyone there is armed with a camera.

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The Sanctuary City

Today is Election Day for the city’s mayoral race that includes incumbent Martin “Marty” Chavez, Richard Romero and Richard "RJ" Berry. The Albuquerque Journal polls show that Berry a Republican leads with 31%, while Democrat Chavez is at 26% and Democrat Romero is at 24%. Martin Chavez has name recognition and had been consider a “shoe in” coming in to the campaign but this election year things have taken a new surprising twist. Both Romero and Berry have come after Chavez swinging everything they can muster and the effecting result is visible in the poll.

One of the most sticky points and controversial issues that have been raised is if Albuquerque is a “sanctuary City.” A sanctuary city is a term given to a city in the United States that follows certain practices that protect illegal immigrants. These practices can be by law (de jure) or they can be by habit (de facto). The term generally applies to cities that do not allow municipal funds or resources to be used to enforce federal immigration laws, usually by not allowing police to inquire about one's immigration status. The designation has no legal meaning.

Mayor Chavez has been criticized for enforcing a city policy that supposedly prohibits city police from questioning suspected foreigners of their legal status. For some time now the local media has been having a field day reporting the issue of immigration and the city police that some say makes Albuquerque a sanctuary city. According to a report on KOB-TV, Albuquerque Police Department officers who find illegal immigrants will no longer contact federal immigration agents or the Border Patrol.

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Tragic Beyond Belief

Memorial at the park.

Tiffany Toribio placed her hand over her 3-year-old son's mouth as he slept on this playground bridge in the middle of the night.

She held him down until he stopped squirming.

Toribio then performed CPR on her son Tyrus who started breathing again. He was shaking, his eyes were rolled back. She then suffocated him again. She placed her hand over his face until he stopped breathing.

Only this time she didn't revive little Ty.

She dug a hole with her hands in the sand underneath a swing set, put Ty in it and buried him.

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