Española man settles with state police over property damage from raid

Robert Nott, The Santa Fe New Mexican
·2 min read

May 22—New Mexico State Police have settled with an Española man who filed a civil complaint alleging officers wrecked a house he owns while they were searching for a suspect with an outstanding arrest warrant.

The complaint, filed in late January in state District Court, says unnamed officers raided Virgil Vigil's rental property on Calle del Rio in Española on April 16, 2020.

The tenants were not home at the time, the lawsuit says, and no one was arrested.

Vigil's lawyer, Sheri Raphaelson of Española, said in an interview the person named on the arrest warrant wasn't even living at Vigil's house — but his mother was.

When Vigil arrived at the scene, the suit says, he found three exterior doors "broken down" and at least two interior door locks broken as well. One large glass panel window and four small windows also were damaged, he alleges.

The smell of "noxious" tear gas permeated the house, preventing Vigil from renting it out for at least two months while he attempted to clean it up, the complaint says.

A vehicle parked in the driveway also was damaged by state police in the raid, according to the suit, which says the level of force used in the event was "far more than was reasonable or necessary."

Vigil's complaint asked the court to order state police to compensate him for the damage done to the house and for the loss of several months worth of rent payments.

State police did not respond to requests for comment on the case.

Raphaelson said she and Vigil were "satisfied' with the out-of-court settlement. An order dismissing the case should be finalized Friday, she added — though it will not become public record for another six months.

This type of destruction by police officers conducting raids "happens pretty frequently," she said. "This is not the first case I've done like this. I have another pending right now.

"It's pretty common that there's property damage when a warrant is executed, and the agency responsible for the damage is usually pretty good about compensating the homeowner," Raphaelson added.