Fighters flee melee at restaurant

By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — On Sunday afternoon Grants police received a call from a local restaurant about a half dozen people being involved in a fight, some using baseball bats.

When police arrived at the Sonic restaurant, the individuals involved were, "GOA" or "gone on arrival," in police vernacular.

Although the police call sheet stated that no one wanted to press charges, law enforcement officers in New Mexico have the legal authority and the discretion to charge individuals with crimes if the victims do not want to press charges.

Grants Police Detective Moses Marquez said police have the authority by state law to file criminal charges in cases where officers believe there is probable cause that a crime has been committed, regardless of whether the victim wants to press charges.

"If we (police officers) observe enough probable cause to determine a crime has been committed, we have to file charges, it's our job," Marquez said.

"There are times when a victim does not want to pursue the matter, but sometimes there is nothing we can do. We have to file charges, especially in incidents such as stabbings," he said.

Domestic violence is the number one type of case where officers file charges on one or both spouses, despite the fact that usually when officers start talking jail, one or both of the spouses suddenly say they love each other and don't want their spouse to go to jail, Marquez said.

"A lot of times we'll go to a domestic violence situation and find what we call 'signs of abuse,' " Marquez said.

There are different signs of abuse, he said.

"The person (who allegedly committed the crime) is going to go to jail when we see bloody lips, red marks, lumps, swollen eyes physical signs of abuse on the spouse or victim."

In addition to physical signs on the victims, there may be other signs, such as broken furniture, torn clothes or holes in a wall.

"Those are signs of a struggle," he said.

"Every situation is different and gets sorted out in court."

If the victim does not want to testify in court, it may not get to an actual trial, but it gets resolved, he said.

— To contact reporter Jim Tiffin call (505) 287-2197 or e-mail: tiffin.independent@yahoo.com