By: Jonathan Baca, Senior Reporter | Photo Courtesy: Bernco.gov, Web
A man was arrested after a violent outburst in the Student Resource Center on Main campus earlier last week.
APD and Campus Security were called to the SRC on Tuesday, Jan. 22 in response to calls about a man who witnesses said was throwing chairs, yelling profanities and threatening violence.
The man, later identified as former Computer Information Systems major Salomon Gallegos, was arrested on charges of Criminal Trespass and Disorderly Conduct, according to the APD report.
A phone number for Gallegos was not listed, and the Chronicle was unable to reach him.
Gallegos smelled strongly of alcohol and was acting intoxicated, according to the police report.
Witnesses said Gallegos became angry when he was unable to sign on to a computer.
When he began shouting and trying to break a set of library headphones, a woman sitting at a nearby computer told him to stop.
“She didn’t seem very scared of him. She was holding her own,” said Welding Major Thane Padilla, who witnessed the incident.
Padilla said he was studying in the library when he heard a slamming noise followed by yelling. He said he went to see what was happening and saw Gallegos standing near a computer, yelling insults at the woman.
Padilla said he moved between Gallegos and the unidentified woman.
“I asked him not to behave the way he was and he kept saying things like ‘Don’t do what? Don’t hit a woman?’ One time he gestured like he was going to hit me, but he never went for it,” said Padilla.
Networking and Systems Management Major Timothy Hoffmann said he was sitting next to Gallegos when the commotion began.
He said the woman kept telling Gallegos to calm down, even as he was threatening her and screaming profanities at her.
“She wouldn’t back down. She was pretty brave, I thought,” said Hoffmann.
All attempts by The Chronicle to find the woman were unsuccessful.
Eventually Gallegos began throwing chairs, screaming profanity and threatening other students in the computer lab, said Library Technical Support Technician Alexandra Vigil.
“He started cussing at the other students in the computer lab, threatening people, wanting to take them out to the parking lot. Then he started making gun gestures like he was shooting them. There was no calming him down,” said Vigil.
Vigil said that was when she called security and stayed on the line until officers arrived on the scene. She said that security officers came quickly.
While security was on the way, many students stood up from their seats and backed away from Gallegos, said Vigil.
“Everybody was pretty scared. A lot of people jumped out of their seats. It was pretty intense,” she said.
According to the police report, Gallegos had been given a Criminal Trespass Notification previously and was told not to come back on campus.
Padilla said that although he attempted to come between Gallegos and the woman who was standing up to him, he felt that she was the one who was brave.
“I want everyone to know that she was the real hero. She just wouldn’t back down. It was pretty cool,” he said.
Gallegos was released from custody on Wednesday, Jan. 23 on a $500 bond then arrested again on Jan. 25 for possession of a contraband substance, according to nmcourts.gov.
