Tucumcari man jailed in stabbing

Police officers arrested and jailed a Tucumcari man on a felony complaint after he was accused of stabbing another man in the lower back, upper shoulder and face.

Adrian J. Andrade, 25, was booked on a complaint of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, a third-degree felony that can lead up to three years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

According to a complaint filed by Tucumcari patrolman Tyler Davis, officers were sent to the 600 block of East Tucumcari Boulevard the afternoon of June 1 to investigate a stabbing. A Quay County sheriff’s deputy arrived first and rendered aid to the victim’s wounds on his back and face. The victim said “AJ,” later identified as Andrade, had stabbed him but didn’t know his assailant’s last name.

A witness said the suspect left in an Audi car, and a store employee wrote down the vehicle’s license number. The store’s manager was instructed by police to make a copy of the store’s surveillance camera footage.

The victim was taken to the emergency room at Trigg Memorial Hospital in Tucumcari for treatment.

Andrade and a member of his family initially told police the victim had been harassing Andrade and had hit him in the face before the knife attack. Andrade was taken to the Tucumcari Police Department for questioning.

Andrade told officers he was going to the lake with a friend when they stopped at a store to get a few things. Andrade said the victim approached him when he was in line and threatened him, saying “I’ll catch you at your house” and several vulgarities.

Andrade said he felt his family was in danger, so he approached the victim in the parking lot and told him to stay away from his house. He said that’s when the victim struck his face and grabbed him by the chain he wore. The chain broke, and the victim struck the top of Andrade’s vehicle with the hand that held the chain. Andrade said the victim held a folding knife in his right hand, and he took it from him. After that, Andrade said he blacked out until a relative told him to return home.

Magistrate Judge Timothy O’Quinn found probable cause in the complaint the evening of June 1 and ordered Andrade held in custody.

Andrade was released from jail by court order Wednesday afternoon, according to Quay County Detention Center records.

Public defender Anna Aragon was listed as Andrade’s attorney in online court records.