Grand jury indicts Bernalillo County deputy in child abuse case

A Bernalillo County grand jury has put Deputy Bryan Lassley on the path to trial after bodycam video from a December 3 encounter outside the Bernalillo County Juvenile Detention and Youth Services Center showed him shoving and striking a 16-year-old girl against a patrol vehicle. The indictment on child abuse and felony aggravated battery charges turns a use-of-force case into a broader test of accountability inside the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office.

The case stems from what the sheriff’s office described as an alleged excessive-force incident during a call for service outside the juvenile detention facility in Albuquerque. According to local reporting on the bodycam footage, Lassley pushed the teenager and slammed her head against the vehicle. The grand jury found enough evidence to move the case forward, and District Attorney Sam Bregman publicly announced the indictment.

The timeline has now become central to the public trust question surrounding the deputy. Sheriff John Allen said in March 2026 that an independent review had been opened after the incident. Bernalillo County later said Lassley would be fired once that investigation was complete, signaling that the department’s internal response moved well before the criminal case reached the grand jury.

That sequence matters for families across the metro area, including Sandoval County residents who rely on Bernalillo County law enforcement, because the incident involved a sworn deputy and a juvenile. It raises questions about how officers are trained to handle youth encounters, how force is reviewed when a child is involved, and whether supervisors identified warning signs before the confrontation outside the detention center escalated.

The Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office said its Major Crimes division, including the Special Victims Unit, handles serious violent felonies and crimes against children. Lassley’s arraignment is scheduled for June 15, 2026, in a case that will now be watched closely for what it reveals about both criminal accountability and the sheriff’s office’s internal discipline process.

Lassley has also drawn attention before. He was connected to a fatal August 2024 North Valley crash that killed 43-year-old Alexandria Gerard, and a Santa Fe District Attorney letter reported in December 2025 said he would not face charges in that case. The new indictment places fresh scrutiny on how the county vets force complaints, supervises deputies, and restores confidence after an allegation involving a child.