Nail clippers and two chef’s knives. APD provides videos of 2 shootings by police

By Elise Kaplan / Journal Staff Writer Published: Friday, December 23rd, 2022 at 7:31PMUpdated: Tuesday, December 27th, 2022 at 12:19PM

There are a lot of similarities between two deadly shootings by Albuquerque police that occurred within about two weeks of one another in November.

Both men were holding sharp objects: one clutching nail clippers with the file extended, the other waving two chef's knives above his head. In each instance, officers also used less-lethal weapons — a Taser and rubber bullets, respectively.

Both men were experiencing a mental health crisis. Officials say 41-year-old Jesus Crosby was diagnosed with schizophrenia and had several prior interactions with officers near the Downtown police headquarters parking lot where he was killed. Blaine Denetdele's parents told the Journal he had Asperger's syndrome — a form of autism spectrum disorder — and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and they had called 911 so officers could help calm down the 30-year-old during a family fight.

But Chief Harold Medina said there were significant differences, too.

For one thing, in the first case — involving Crosby on Nov. 10 — he said officers were on scene negotiating with him for several minutes, while in the second — involving Denetdele on Nov. 25 — the events unfolded very quickly, not allowing officers much time to react.

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Albuquerque police held a briefing Friday morning where they released lapel camera videos and photos from the shootings. Investigations by the Internal Affairs division and the Multi-Agency Task Force are ongoing for each incident.

The cases were the most recent in a year where APD officers have shot at 18 people — an increase over last year when they shot at 10. This year, 10 people were killed, three were injured and in five cases the officers missed.

Multiple trespassing calls

When officers tried to arrest Crosby for criminal trespass at the prisoner transport center, on 4th and Roma NW, in the early morning hours of Nov. 10, he was already well known to them. APD's Crisis Intervention Unit had been trying to connect him to services but the unit's commander said caseworkers had a hard time regularly locating him since he was unhoused.

Plus in September and October, Crosby had been arrested three times for trespassing at the center. He was also suspected of threatening employees at the Bank of the West across the street and throwing a landscaping rock through a window two days before the shooting.

Deputy Cmdr. Kyle Hartsock, with APD's Criminal Investigations Division, said a prisoner transport center sergeant recognized Crosby and asked officers to arrest him for trespassing. Two officers responded and followed him across the street as he walked away toward the police station.

"He came to rest near a wall as more officers arrived on scene," Hartsock said. "Mr. Crosby remained in an aggressive posture with objects in both his hands, and his elbows and his hands raised slightly. He was given additional warnings that if he moved towards officers without dropping both objects he would be shot. He did drop one of the objects but not the other and continued to not comply with the officers commands."

At that point, when Crosby "made a sudden movement towards officers," Hartsock said, officers Chance Gore and Alex Couch fired their guns at the same time that another officer shot a Taser. Video shows about eight shots were fired.

Crosby was taken to a hospital, where he died. The object in his hand turned out to be nail clippers with the file extended.

Crosby's brother — who was visiting his grave with their mother on Friday — referred the Journal to the family's attorney. The attorney could not be reached.

Both Gore and Couch have been with APD since 2020 and had not been involved in any other shootings. They are both assigned to the Valley Area Command and have returned from administrative leave.

When asked about whether officers should have just used the less-lethal option of a Taser rather than deadly force, Medina referenced an announcement he had made on Thursday about having his executive staff and city attorneys look for trends in this year's shootings. That review is expected in mid-January.

"That's one of the things we’re looking at to have an evaluation to see if there are opportunities to use certain objects earlier," Medina said. "We’re not going to know that until after we have this review of the 18 cases and this case goes before the (Force Review Board). That's one of the things we’re looking for now is was there earlier opportunities."

A family fight

Fifteen days later, on the afternoon of Nov. 25, Joseph Perry called 911 to say his stepson Denetdele was out of control and had been drinking alcohol. It was the day after Thanksgiving.

Perry and Denetdele's mother, Mavis Denetdele-Perry, had previously told the Journal that they had called police because in the past when their son was upset officers were able to calm him down. They were devastated by the outcome of the call.

On the audio recording of the call, Perry said Denetdele was out of control and he had not hit anybody but he had "got pretty close."

Hartsock said Denetdele-Perry spent 20 minutes on the phone with the dispatcher and he played clips in which Denetdele and Perry could be heard in the background.

Officers Arniel Sampang, Christopher Taddoni and Jacob Muñoz arrived at the house in the 2200 block of Odessa SW, near Gibson and Messina, and Perry came outside to talk to them.

Video shows that as the officers were talking to Perry, Denetdele came out of the house, holding two knives. The officers ordered him to drop the knives but he did not and instead jogged toward them.

"Officer Sampang fired a 40mm sponge less-than-lethal round from an approximate distance of 21 feet — which did hit him but didn't cause Blaine to surrender," Hartsock said. "The officers continued their commands and began to retreat into the street. When Blaine was approximately 13 feet away from them and still moving towards them armed with knives an officer-involved shooting occurred."

The whole encounter lasted less than a minute. Denetdele died at the scene.

Sampang has been with APD since 2015, Taddoni since 2021 and Muñoz since 2020. None had been involved in any other shootings. All three are with the Southwest Area Command and are in the process of returning to work.

Photos from inside the home show damage from a knife to doors and the TV.

Medina said it would not have been an appropriate for the Albuquerque Community Safety department to respond to the call since Denetdele was armed with a knife. He said a mobile crisis team — comprised of an officer and a clinician — was requested but none was available.

When Denetdele's parents spoke with the Journal a couple of weeks ago they were upset that the officers had not gone into the house to speak with their son.

In response to questions about their concerns, Medina said the officers were in the process of communicating with the family when everything unfolded.

"At no point in time would I want officers immediately to charge into a house because, had our officers charged into the house immediately and ended up shooting individuals, the question that would be presented to me right now is ‘why didn't the officers slow things down?'" Medina said.