APD IDs UNM-area road rage suspect

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Police are looking for an 18-year-old man accused of aggravated battery near UNM’s campus.

Albuquerque police responded around 12:46 p.m., Jan. 25, to the area of University and MLK, regarding a reported fight between two men who exited their cars.

Upon arrival, they learned that 18-year-old Andres Lorenzo Martinez allegedly struck a 55-year-old man with a firearm. The man was taken to the hospital and is expected to recover.

A criminal complaint alleges the man was driving on MLK when the driver of a white minivan slammed on its brakes. The man then noted there was a brown sedan behind him and the people in it began to yell and gesture at him after they suddenly stopped.

The man said he got out of the car as he thought he had been hit. At that time, the man saw he hadn’t been hit. However, Martinez allegedly exited the brown sedan and confronted the man, reportedly threatening to “jack” his car.

The man began taking pictures of Martinez, then Martinez allegedly walked toward him and struck him in the face with a pistol. Martinez allegedly tried taking the man’s phone before knocking it to the ground and fleeing in the brown sedan.

The man told police he wasn’t confrontational. He also said Martinez was reportedly deterred from his car because it had a manual, stick shift transmission.

APD has issued a warrant for Martinez’s arrest on a charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. He is described as an 18-to-25-year-old Hispanic man with a medium build, curly brown hair and wearing a red Cookies sweatshirt and sweatpants.

If you have any information on where Martinez is, call 242-COPS (2677) or Metro Crime Stoppers at 505-843-STOP (7867).