Video shows security guard point gun at man

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Surveillance video shows a security guard drawing their gun on someone in Albuquerque Wednesday.

The guard told police the man stole candy from a store. They asked him to leave, but moments later video shows the man throwing a rock at the guard, and the guard then points his gun at the man as he runs away. The guard did not shoot.

It happened at a shopping center off Central and San Pedro. Doug Peterson’s group owns the property.

“I was thankful that the guard was OK, because the offender threw a rock at him pretty hard – a big rock,” Peterson said.

He said those guards and the more than 60 cameras see a lot.

“That property is one that we have problems at every day. It’s just the continuation of our frustration. Our frustration with crime is citywide,” he said.

He believes it’s necessary for those guards to be armed, and incidents there include people taking air conditioning components from the roof, stealing items from the grocery store and damaging a new building a restaurant is set to move into, seemingly trying to get copper out of an electrical panel.

Peterson said damage to that property alone costs $50,000 or more each year.

“I don’t want to have to pay for security anywhere, but we do what’s necessary to protect our properties, and protect our tenants and protect the customers who visit the property,” Peterson said.

Police said the man who threw the rock is Justin McDaniel, 27. He’s in jail, but prosecutors note that officers have arrested him at least 17 times, and a judge has dismissed every charge for the same reason – they’ve ruled him incompetent to stand trial.

The charge from the incident Wednesday is a felony – aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

McDaniel’s criminal history includes assault and armed robbery, but most charges were for stealing things and threatening people.

He didn’t appear in court Thursday. He’ll stay in jail but a judge said they’ll reconsider if treatment is available for him.

This past legislative session, some state lawmakers had a proposal to require some people to get help instead of simply getting released when a judge decides they are incompetent to stand trial.

A bill with support from both parties died this year in the legislative session. Judges would have to have ordered those accused of crimes to go through treatment if an evaluation recommended it.

Many addiction recovery advocates have said there aren’t enough beds for the voluntary programs around the Albuquerque metro.

KOB 4 asked a Bernalillo County spokesperson about the CARE Campus, to highlight one of the centers people have access to.

As of Thursday, all of the 30 detox beds are full, and the unit where staff observe people waiting for more treatment is often at capacity each night.

However, the unit for people in a mental health crisis, the crisis stabilization unit, has plenty of openings. There were two patients and 14 open beds Thursday.

The campus also has an aftercare program with open spots, and the spokesperson said they want to expand the campus, including hiring more staff and providing more services.