Sandia Pueblo chase ends in arrest, multiple charges filed in Bernalillo area

A pursuit that started in Sandia Pueblo and rolled into the Bernalillo area ended on Spartan Alley Road with the arrest of Kendall Duran, 30, of Albuquerque, after police say the chase crossed into the county’s busy northern corridor and drew in multiple agencies.

Duran was arrested May 2 and faces kidnapping, two counts of aggravated fleeing law enforcement, tampering with evidence, false title or registration, possession of a controlled substance, DUI and resisting arrest. The charge list points to a case that went far beyond a routine traffic stop, with allegations of danger on the road, possible evidence concealment and drug impairment all folded into the arrest.

Sandia Police told the Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office they were dropping the pursuit near mile marker 230 on Interstate 25, a stretch that runs north of Albuquerque through the Pueblo of Sandia and toward Bernalillo. That handoff shows how quickly a fast-moving incident can shift from one jurisdiction to another in an area where tribal police, county deputies and municipal officers all share the same roads.

The route matters for residents who travel I-25, Bernalillo streets and the roads around Sandia Pueblo every day. What began in tribal jurisdiction did not stay there, and the pursuit exposed how easily a dangerous driver can move through places where school traffic, commuter traffic and local travel all mix together.

New Mexico law treats aggravated fleeing as willfully and carelessly driving in a way that endangers another person after a signal to stop, and it is a fourth-degree felony when no one is injured. False title or registration is also a felony offense. In Duran’s case, the combination of kidnapping and repeated fleeing charges made the arrest especially serious.

Sandia Pueblo Police says its department is state-certified and serves both tribal members and visitors, while Sandoval County’s law-enforcement directory lists Sandia Tribal Police alongside the Bernalillo Police Department, Rio Rancho Police Department and the Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office. That overlapping network of agencies is designed to respond quickly, but the chase also highlights how much coordination is required when a suspect keeps going after law enforcement tries to stop a vehicle.

For Bernalillo-area drivers, the incident was a reminder that the interstate corridor is not just a pass-through. It is a shared public-safety zone where one pursuit can put multiple communities at risk in a matter of minutes.