Father arrested, son sought in Tecolotito shootout

Robert Saiz Sr., 48, was arrested May 26 and booked into the San Miguel County Detention Center. A warrant for the arrest of his 26-year-old son, Robert Saiz Jr., was issued June 2. Both men are charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, among other charges.

New Mexico State Police dispatchers received multiple 911 calls of shots being fired around noon on May 26 in Tecolotito, about 30 miles south of Las Vegas. Soon after, a man checked into Alta Vista Regional Hospital in Las Vegas with a gunshot wound to his right arm, according to affidavits filed in San Miguel Magistrate Court.

The man told police he’d been at a friend’s house in Tecolotito when he heard several gunshots. He said two bullets came through the front door, and at least one struck him in the arm.

NMSP officers and investigators responded to the rural area where the shooting had taken place. A man who lives next door to the Saizs told police that on May 25, Saiz Jr. pointed a gun at him, but he said he didn’t report the incident to police.

The man went fishing with his daughter the next day, and when they returned home, he said the Saizs threw rocks at his vehicle. The man’s daughter told police they were also shouting at them, and that Saiz Jr. threatened to kill her, according to the affidavits.

The man told police he stopped his truck and grabbed a .22-caliber rifle, and admits to firing one shot at the Saizs to “scare them,” according to the affidavits, and that Saiz Sr. had a pistol he was trying to conceal. The man said he rushed his daughter into their house and “took cover” in case the Saizs retaliated. He then heard between eight to 12 gunshots, he told police, and saw Saiz Jr. flee the area, running “toward the river.”

Saiz Sr. told investigators that his neighbor was “talking s—” and then fired two shots at him. He said one round flew by him, and the other struck his gate before coming to rest at his feet. A relative of his neighbor then came outside and started shooting as well, he told police, which prompted Saiz Jr. to come outside with a shotgun and a pistol. He told police his son handed him the shotgun, which he said he fired twice at the man to “scare him” before firing two rounds into the air.

NMSP executed search warrants at both homes. At the Saizs’ home, police recovered 9 mm, rifle and shotgun ammunition, but did not locate any firearms or fired casings. At the neighboring home, police recovered “projectiles consistent with a shotgun slug,” according to the affidavits.

Both Saiz Sr. and Saiz Jr. are on supervised probation. Saiz Sr. was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in 2016 following the death of Joseph Sena, 50, who died after a fight with Saiz Sr. outside the Allsup’s on S. Grand Avenue in May 2015. The Office of the Medical Investigator ruled the death a homicide by blunt head trauma.

Saiz Sr. was also convicted of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon following an April 2015 crash when he struck a vehicle on N. Grand Avenue after attempting to purposely crash into the vehicle of a man he was arguing with at a different Allsup’s.

Saiz Jr. was convicted in March of breaking and entering and larceny. In 2017, he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after firing a handgun at a man’s truck.

In addition to the arrest warrant for the shooting in Tecolotito, an arrest warrant for Saiz Jr. was issued May 27 for an incident five days earlier where Saiz Jr. was seen on surveillance camera footage in Santa Rosa attempting to steal an air conditioner used to cool telecommunications equipment. The air conditioner, valued at $250, was damaged but not stolen, according to court records.

On June 25, a third warrant was issued for the arrest of Saiz Jr. for violating the terms of his probation in the breaking and entering case.

Following the shooting in Tecolotito, both men were charged with two felony counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, felony shooting at a dwelling, felony conspiracy to commit aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, two misdemeanor counts of assault and misdemeanor criminal damage to property. Saiz Sr. also faces one felony count of possession of a firearm by a felon.

During a May 27 hearing, Judge Melanie Rivera set bond for Saiz Sr. at $250,000, cash or surety, citing his extensive criminal history. Prosecutors have since dropped one of the two charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against Saiz Sr.

Prosecutors filed a motion in District Court to detain Saiz Sr. until trial, and during a June 11 hearing, Judge Flora Gallegos ordered Saiz Sr. held without bond while he awaits trial. A four-day trial has been scheduled to begin Oct. 20, and Saiz Sr. remains in custody at SMCDC.