Court documents: Suspect in state police officer shooting violated parole 3 times before incident

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Bernalillo County court records reveal the man accused of leading a New Mexico State Police officer on a high-speed chase and then shooting him, violated parole three times before Friday’s incident.

Caleb Elledge, better known as “Creeper” on the streets, was on the run for close to a year for violating parole a third time. With each violation, his parole officer asked the court to put him behind bars but those requests didn’t stick.

In the summer of 2020, court documents show Elledge violated probation and his parole officer requested he be put in jail. She wrote in the documents that Elledge didn’t even make it a day before he violated his conditions by not reporting to her within 24 hours of leaving the Bernalillo County Jail.

A judge put him in jail for 90 days with probation then reinstated. He was also given “zero tolerance” if he violated conditions again, which Elledge did.

A month later, he picked up felony charges as well. Elledge was arrested for having oxycodone. He also violated other conditions of release by not having a job or going to court-ordered counseling.

The probation officer laid it all out again writing Elledge, “has demonstrated that he is in no way a good candidate for even the highest level of supervision.” She asked again for him to be locked up and probation revoked, but the judge didn’t budge.

Instead, Elledge was put on probation again and was required to enter a treatment program and wear a GPS monitor – a monitor he cut off last April. Records show police were notified the monitor was tampered with and spoke with Elledge’s mother. She reportedly said he cut off the bracelet shortly after he left the police station.

Authorities have been searching for him since. They finally found him ten months later, after he reportedly shot a New Mexico State Police officer. That officer has since been released from the hospital and is recovering at home with his family, according to NMSP Chief Tim Johnson.

KOB 4 reached out to the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office, the Department of Corrections and NMSP about what these documents reveal.

A spokesperson with the DA’s Office sent KOB 4 the following statement:

“The Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office previously convicted Caleb Elledge in three separate felony cases. At initial sentencing, our prosecutors argued for three years of incarceration at the Department of Corrections based on the nature of his crimes and the recommendations set forth in the pre-sentence report. The District Court elected instead to impose only one year of incarceration and placed the defendant on probation for the balance of his sentence. Despite our inability to secure more prison time at initial sentencing we will continue to argue for tougher sentences for defendants like this, both in the court, and at the legislature.”

A representative with the Department of Corrections sent KOB 4 a statement that reads:

“In both instances of Mr. Elledge violating his probation, New Mexico Corrections Department Probation and Parole officers submitted recommendations of incarceration to the judge – this was the case each time he violated his terms. In both instances, the judge made the decision to reinstate probation for Mr. Elledge, against the recommendation of our officers. The department cannot speculate as to why the judge made those decisions.”

Secretary Jason Bowie with the Department of Public Safety said:

“We acknowledge that these are troubling circumstances. Unfortunately, we are seeing victims impacted by violent repeat offenders all too often. Crimes like these further reinforce the critical importance of priority public safety legislation currently being considered.”