A Torrance County man is suing the Town of Estancia and former Estancia Police Officer Milton Torrez, alleging he was severely injured by Torrez’s police vehicle when he was “forced” through a barbed wire fence and thrown 30 feet into the air.
The lawsuit states that on March 23, 2022, Torrez was investigating a potential misdemeanor crime being committed by a man named Salvador Gonzales. When he approached Gonzales, Torrez allegedly grabbed him by his sweatshirt. Gonzales slipped out of his sweatshirt and began to run.
Torrez then chased Gonzales through an RV field in his 2020 Ford Explorer police vehicle. The lawsuit states Gonzales reached a barbed wire fence at the perimeter of the RV field and stopped, but Torrez did not stop. The lawsuit states that instead, Torrez drove his vehicle into Gonzales through the barbed wire fence.
“He threw him at whatever speed — he was going fast enough to throw our client about 30 feet from the car across the field that was next door to the RV park,” Gonzales’ attorney Alyssa Quijano said.
As a result, the lawsuit states, Gonzales suffered multiple rib fractures, pulmonary contusions, chest lacerations and right metatarsal fractures. While at the hospital, he experienced a left pneumothorax which required a left thoracostomy tube placement.
Gonzales was hospitalized for a week, according to the lawsuit.
“It’s not something you ever would expect to happen to you. You’re not expecting to be run over by a police officer no matter what is happening,” Quijano said.
Quijano said her client was never charged for the offense Torrez was investigating him for, and the lawsuit states Torrez didn’t have his body-worn camera activated during his interaction with Gonzales.
Torrez has since retired from the Estancia Police Department.
The Town of Estancia did not return a request for comment by press time.
A history with other police agencies
Quijano said Torrez has a long history as a police officer throughout New Mexico since the 1980s.
“Everywhere he goes it’s some issue with his driving, whether they’re suspecting him of drinking while driving, or swerving on the road or backing into other vehicles,” she said.
On Jan. 1, 1985, court documents show, Torrez pleaded guilty to his second DWI. It is unclear when his first DWI charge occurred.
On Feb. 15, 2000, when Torrez was a deputy in Torrance County, the lawsuit involving Gonzales states that during a predisciplinary hearing, staff noted that Torrez was unable to control his anger and on Feb. 18, 2000, Torrez was fired for insubordination, then eventually rehired.
In 2003, the lawsuit involving Gonzales states, a citizen saw him swerving in his police vehicle in Moriarty. The witness filed a report with the Moriarty Police Department.
In 2004, the lawsuit states, Torrez backed his Moriarty police vehicle into a civilian’s vehicle driving past him while he was on duty. Torrez resigned shortly after this incident.
Then in 2019, Torrez was hired by the Town of Mountainair Police Department. That year, he backed his police vehicle into a light pole, according to the lawsuit. Torrez also drove his police vehicle into a stop sign that same year. After the incidents in 2019, the lawsuit states, the Town of Mountainair revoked Torrez’s privilege to drive his police vehicle.
Quijano said this is an example of an officer who should not be policing.
“He has this long history of many different agencies throughout New Mexico where he’s been permitted to police, despite warning signs that he is not behaving faithfully,” she said. “We think it’s important for people to understand that there are officers who are behaving this way and that the towns and cities and counties who are employing these officers should be held responsible.”
Suit: Jumping from agency to agency
According to the lawsuit, Torrez has a long history of jumping from police agency to police agency throughout New Mexico, and concerns were raised about his work ethic at each one.
In 1994, Torrez was hired as a deputy with the Torrance County Sheriff’s Office.
In April 1998, Torrez resigned from the Torrance County Sheriff’s Office and took a position with the Town of Estancia, according to the lawsuit. Four months later, Torrez returned to work for the Torrance County Sheriff’s Office, according to the lawsuit.
In 2002, court documents show that Torrez filed a civil lawsuit against the Torrance County Sheriff’s Office alleging discrimination and breach of contract. Quijano said he was eventually rehired but later resigned.
In 2004, the lawsuit states, Torrez resigned from the Torrance County Sheriff’s Office.
The Independent was able to confirm with the Town of Mountainair that Torrez worked for them from March 16, 2005, to July 20, 2011, a timeline the lawsuit disputes. Torrez again worked for Mountainair police between Sept. 12, 2012, and July 29, 2019. It is unclear why Torrez left MPD the first time but according to the town clerk, Torrez left the second time because “he was given another opportunity.”
Between August 2004 and December 2004, Torrez worked for the Gallup Police Department, according to the lawsuit. Torrez was then hired by the Mountainair Police Department in March 2005 but resigned three months later.
Between February and September 2006, Torrez worked for the Pueblo of Sandia but was eventually terminated, according to the lawsuit.
The Independent confirmed Torrez worked for the Moriarty Police Department from September 2009 and left three months later.
After leaving the Mountainair Police Department in 2019, he was later hired as a police officer for the Town of Estancia, according to the lawsuit. At the time he was hired, there was no acting police chief in Estancia.
In rural parts of New Mexico, Quijano said she has seen troubling hiring practices for police officers and there are departments willing to hire officers who have either been terminated from nearby departments or have been suspected of use of force incidents that have caused them to either resign or be terminated.
“Other departments are happily taking those officers into their employ which allows them to continue their misconduct,” she said.
The Independent reached out to the Law Enforcement Academy Board and Milton Torrez for comment but did not hear back as of press time.