Grandmother shoots man who allegedly broke into her home while fleeing police

Albuquerque police say a woman trying to protect her 4-year-old grandchild shot an auto theft suspect who twice broke into her home demanding car keys Friday night in the North Valley.

Joseph Rivera, 32, is charged with burglary, attempted burglary and auto theft.

Franchesca Perdue, an Albuquerque Police Department spokeswoman, said Rivera will be booked into jail after being released from the hospital, where he is being treated.

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.

On Friday, around 8 p.m., police tried to pull over a stolen truck near Central and Cypress and used spike strips to flatten the tires, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. Police said the driver fled with the truck “on its rims” and crashed it into a curb near Candelaria and Rio Grande NW.

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

Around 9:30 p.m., a woman called 911 and said she had shot a man in her home after he “took her keys and said he did not want to go to jail,” according to the complaint. Officers detained the burglar — identified as Rivera — at the home and the woman handed police the gun she used to shoot him.

Police said the woman told them she was with her 4-year-old grandson when she heard someone inside the home. She said she confronted the man, who “appeared to be angry” and told her he “just needed her keys.”

The woman told police she thought about arming herself then but “did not know if she had time to use the weapon” if he also had a gun, according to the complaint. The woman said she took him to a “bowl of keys” in the kitchen and Rivera took several keys and left.

Police said the woman told them she then grabbed a gun and took her grandchild into the bedroom. She said she then found Rivera back in her hallway, “demanding more keys.”

The woman told police she pointed the gun at Rivera and “told him to get out” but he began approaching her instead, according to the complaint. She said she was scared “he would kill her or her grandchild” and she shot him once.

Police said the woman told them Rivera fell to the ground and began “crawling through the halls asking for water.” She said she “put pressure on his wound until police arrived.”