Deputies arrest man accused of deadly shooting over stolen trailer

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Deputies with the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office arrested a man accused of shooting and killing someone over a stolen trailer.

Around 11 a.m. Sunday, BCSO deputies responded to the area of Rio Bravo Boulevard and Prince Street regarding a call about a truck towing away an excavator that BCSO described as stolen. According to BCSO, the caller was following them and said the truck rammed into their vehicle.

Deputies tracked the call down to Prince and Prosperity Avenue, where they found man dead with a gunshot wound in the driver’s seat of the truck. The man, identified as Isidro Ramirez, died at the scene.

Deputies detained and questioned Miguel Varela, identified as a passenger in the vehicle following the truck. According to a criminal complaint, Varela met up with the people in the truck about the alleged stolen property. Investigators said Varela thought the driver was reaching for a weapon and was going to drive away so he said he panicked and allegedly fired eight times at the driver.

Varela is now behind bars facing a second-degree murder charge.