Grandmother protecting herself and her 4-year-old grandchild shoots auto theft suspect who broke into her home, cops say

A New Mexico grandmother protecting herself and her 4-year-old grandchild shot an auto theft suspect who broke into her home Friday night.

What are the details?

Albuquerque police said they tried to pull over a stolen truck near Central and Cypress around 8 p.m. and used spike strips to flatten the tires, the Albuquerque Journal reported, citing a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.

Police told the paper the truck was “on its rims” and crashed into a curb near Candelaria and Rio Grande NW.

The driver ran into the neighborhood, and police made a perimeter to search the area, the Journal said.

A woman who was with her 4-year-old grandchild told police she heard someone inside her home, the paper said, adding that she confronted the male who “appeared to be angry” and told her he “just needed her keys.”

The woman told police she thought about arming herself but “did not know if she had time to use the weapon” if the intruder also had a gun, the paper reported, citing the complaint.

The woman told police she took the intruder to a “bowl of keys” in the kitchen, and the male took several keys and left, the Journal reported.

Police said the woman told them she then grabbed a gun and took her grandchild into a bedroom — but she said she discovered the intruder back in her hallway “demanding more keys," the paper said.

With that, the woman told police she pointed the gun at the intruder and “told him to get out” — but he began approaching her instead, the Journal said, citing the complaint.

The woman told police she was scared “he would kill her or her grandchild,” and she shot him once, the paper reported.

The woman told police the intruder fell to the ground and began “crawling through the halls asking for water,” the Journal said, adding that the woman said she “put pressure on his wound until police arrived.”

The woman called 911 around 9:30 p.m., arriving officers detained the burglar — identified as 32-year-old Joseph Rivera — at the home, and the woman gave police the gun she used to shoot him, the paper said.

Police told the Journal that Rivera is charged with burglary, attempted burglary, and auto theft, and will be booked into jail after he's released from the hospital.

More from the paper:

Rivera is currently on pretrial release in a July 2023 case in which he was found in a stolen vehicle with fentanyl, cocaine and heroin on him, according to court records. At the time, Rivera told police that “his personal life and caring for his family has been incredibly difficult” as he struggled with undiagnosed mental health issues and addiction.

A warrant was issued in that case when he didn’t show up for a court hearing in October.

This story has been updated.

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