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EXPLAINED: Harold medina | Vintage Vibes

Cop-Assisted Extortion of DWI Arrestees in New Mexico Included Getting Them Drunk

A recent guilty plea reveals a new wrinkle in a long-running corruption scheme that involved bribing police officers to make drunk driving cases disappear.

Reason

How Politicians and Cops Tried To Dodge Responsibility in 2025

Presidents, legislators, and police officers were desperate to blame anyone but themselves.

Reason

Another New Mexico Cop Lauded for Nabbing Drunk Drivers Admits Taking Bribes To Let Them Off the Hook

A guilty plea by a retired Albuquerque officer who served in law enforcement for more than 30 years illustrates the extent of the biggest police scandal in the state's history.

Reason

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New Mexico governor mobilizes National Guard to tackle crime emergency in Albuquerque

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has declared a state of emergency in New Mexico's largest city, saying that a significant increase in crime in Albuquerque warrants the help of the New Mexico National Guard

The Independent UK

Sheriff Says 'Public Trust' in New Mexico Law Enforcement 'Is Completely Lost' Because of Police Corruption

"This is a gut punch," says Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen. "This is a kick to my balls and two black eyes, to be honest with you."

Reason

A State Cop Lionized for Nabbing Drunk Drivers Is Suspected of Taking Bribes To Let Them Off the Hook

New Mexico State Police Sgt. Toby LaFave, "the face of DWI enforcement," has been implicated in a corruption scandal that goes back decades and involves "many officers."

Reason

Pervasive Police Corruption in Albuquerque Explains Why a Teetotaler Was Arrested for DWI

A driver who was acquitted of drunk driving joins a class action lawsuit provoked by a bribery scheme that went undetected for decades.

Reason

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Albuquerque's Ever-Expanding Police Corruption Scandal Goes Back Decades and Involves 'Many Officers'

In the latest guilty plea, a local defense attorney says he had been bribing cops to make DWI cases disappear "since at least the late 1990s."

Reason

Attorney at center of DWI police corruption probe in Albuquerque pleads guilty

An Albuquerque attorney who investigators allege was at the center of a sweeping corruption scandal that allowed people arrested for driving while intoxicated to evade conviction has pleaded guilty to federal charges

The Independent UK

Officers plead guilty in DWI police corruption probe in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Two former Albuquerque police officers have agreed to plead guilty to federal charges of racketeering, extortion and accepting bribes in a sweeping corruption investigation into a scheme that allegedly allowed people arrested for driving while intoxicated to evade conviction, according to court records

The Independent UK

A Guilty Plea Implicates 'Almost the Entire' Albuquerque DWI Unit in Longstanding Police Corruption

Federal prosecutors say the city's police department was the main focus of a 15-year bribery scheme that also involved the sheriff's office and the state police.

Reason

Shooting the Messenger and Blaming the Victim

How cops, politicians, and bureaucrats tried to dodge responsibility in 2024

Reason

Albuquerque Police Chief Faces Investigation For Body Camera Incident

Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina's intentional turning off of body camera after a crash raises legal concerns and violates department rules.

Top News

Albuquerque's Police Chief Says Cops Have a 5th Amendment Right To Leave Their Body Cameras Off

Harold Medina made that argument during an internal investigation of a car crash he caused last February.

Reason

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Reason

A Year Before Albuquerque's Police Corruption Scandal Made Headlines, an Internal Probe Found Nothing

In 2022, police received a tip that officers were getting paid to make DWI cases disappear—the same allegation that prompted FBI raids in January.

Reason

Albuquerque's Police Chief Ran a Red Light and Broadsided a Car. A Review Board Says It Was Unavoidable.

Harold Medina, who severely injured a driver while fleeing a gunman, ordered a thorough investigation of his own conduct.

Reason

A 5th Albuquerque Cop Resigns Amid Widening DWI Corruption Scandal

"There is a much bigger story here," the officer's lawyer says. "It goes outward and upward."

Reason

New Mexico MADD 'Officer of the Year' Resigns Amid DWI Corruption Scandal

Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina, who promised to "get to the bottom of this," is himself the subject of an internal investigation after broadsiding a car last month.

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Reason

Albuquerque Cops Allegedly Got Paid To Make DWI Cases Disappear

The scandal has resulted in the dismissal of some 200 DWI cases, an internal probe, and an FBI investigation.

The Independent UK

Arrests made in boy's shooting death that sparked New Mexico governor's aggressive guns ban

Police in Albuquerque say two people have been arrested in connection with a drive-by shooting outside a baseball stadium that killed an 11-year-old boy and prompted New Mexico's governor to issue a controversial gun ban

Reason

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's Unconstitutional Gun Edict Was a Huge, Bipartisan Flop

The governor's attempt to rule by decree provoked widespread condemnation instead of the applause she was expecting.

The Independent UK

Legal fight expected after New Mexico governor suspends the right to carry guns in public

Legal scholars and advocates say New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s emergency order suspending the right to carry firearms in public in and around Albuquerque will spur a legal fight but might also move the debate about gun violence

The Independent UK

Police: 3 killed in shootout involving outlaw biker gangs at New Mexico motorcycle rally

Authorities say three men killed in a weekend shootout at a New Mexico motorcycle rally were all members of rival outlaw biker gangs

Axios

What we know about shootings at New Mexico Democrats’ homes after ex-GOP candidate arrest

Albuquerque police said Monday they arrested Solomon Peña, a Republican candidate who lost two previous state House elections, in connection with some of the attacks.

The Independent UK

Ex-GOP candidate charged in shootings at lawmakers' homes

A failed Republican candidate who authorities say was angry over his defeat in November and made baseless claims that the election was rigged has been charged in a series of drive-by shootings targeting the homes of Democratic lawmakers in New Mexico’s largest city

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