Three juveniles charged after attacking officer at youth facility

Was Saturday’s assault on a corrections officer at the Bernalillo County Youth Services Center a one-off, or another sign that the 78-bed juvenile jail is still under strain? Three juvenile males now face felony battery charges after court documents say they locked themselves in a room and allegedly attacked an officer who had stepped inside while on break.

The officer was reported to have swelling above his left eye and redness on his forehead and the right side of his face, injuries described as non-life-threatening. Surveillance video reportedly showed the three teens entering the room, locking the door and taking fighting stances before punching the officer when he came in, according to court records. Each suspect was charged with aggravated battery upon an officer, no great bodily harm, a fourth-degree felony. The criminal complaints were signed by New Mexico State Police officers and filed in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court.

The incident happened at the Youth Development and Diagnostic Center, commonly known as the Bernalillo County Youth Services Center, at 5100 2nd Street NW in Albuquerque’s North Valley. For parents and residents watching where Sandoval County youth may be held or transferred, the larger issue is not only what happened in one room on one shift, but whether the facility’s staffing and space constraints are adding risk inside a building that serves youths from across the region.

Those concerns have not gone away. A Christmas Day 2023 disturbance at the center involved 13 youths ages 13 to 18 and lasted for several hours. County officials said 55 juveniles were housed there that day, with eight youth program officers and two nurses on normal staffing. By December 2024, county spending tied to that earlier riot had topped $1 million and officials had hired a new director. In February 2025, the facility was reported near capacity with 68 of its 78 beds filled.

County materials describe the Youth Services Center as a 78-bed juvenile detention facility that booked 401 youths in fiscal year 2025, with about 20 percent coming from other New Mexico counties. Bernalillo County has also accepted a $2.6 million Corrections Detention Recruitment Grant for the center, a sign that staffing pressure remains part of the story as the latest assault moves through court.