Lapel videos show aftermath of off-duty BCSO party and deputy's DWI arrest

Feb. 23—It had all the earmarks of a wild party.

The boyfriend, Daniel Vazquez-Moreno, driving off to evade arriving officers. The girlfriend, Katherine Maestas, being uncooperative — crying and refusing to identify herself. The friend, Jasmine Quintana, doubled over on the couch and puking onto the hardwood floor.

The kitchen table littered with empty alcohol bottles and cans. And the one reasonable partygoer, Lorenzo Herrera, trying to control his drunken friends.

The four are deputies with the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office who were at the tail end of an all-night Super Bowl party when a domestic dispute allegedly unfolded between Maestas and Vazquez-Moreno.

"There's literally one cooperative person," a Rio Rancho Police Department supervisor told dispatch in the middle of the ordeal, referring to Herrera.

Vazquez-Moreno was arrested on DWI and domestic violence charges after allegedly fleeing from police and weaving through traffic, speeding 70 mph in a 45 mph zone. His blood-alcohol level was three times the legal limit.

He, Maestas and Quintana are all on paid administrative leave following the incident at Maestas' Rio Rancho home.

Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen made it clear in a news conference that Vazquez-Moreno "doesn't have a path for future employment" at BCSO. He said Quintana and Maestas are on leave for "conduct unbecoming of a deputy" due to their interactions with Rio Rancho police.

Allen said Vazquez-Moreno made "a stupid decision" and then Maestas and Quintana "made more stupid decisions." He commended Herrera for being respectful and doing the right thing.

Vazquez-Moreno is the third BCSO deputy to be arrested in a drinking-related incident while off duty so far this year. His attorney could not be reached Friday.

'We're beyond that'

According to multiple lapel camera videos from the incident obtained through an Inspection of Public Records Act request:

Rio Rancho police responded around 6:15 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 12, to the domestic dispute in the 2200 block of Margarita SE. It is unclear who called Rio Rancho police to the home.

Police say Daniel Vazquez-Moreno was already in his truck and drove away when an officer grabbed the door handle. Fifteen minutes later, police pulled him over as he sped down Westside Boulevard.

"You looked at me in the eye and drove off, and now we are here," an officer tells Vazquez-Moreno in lapel video. "Then ... you're going like 70 mph with your hazards on; why you going that fast?"

Vazquez-Moreno, slurring his words and swaying, tells police he drank while watching the Super Bowl the day before, according to the video. He says at first he didn't argue with Maestas, then says they actually did argue.

"I didn't want to cause a bigger deal so I left. ... She was going for the 49ers and I was not," Vazquez-Moreno tells the officer. "We still love each other, I think."

The officer asks where Vazquez-Moreno works, and he replies, "Nowhere." The second time the officer asks, Vazquez-Moreno said, "You know where we work."

Vazquez-Moreno tells them there is a gun in his truck.

Police arrest him soon after when he fails to even attempt sobriety tests, saying he is too cold. At times, Vazquez-Moreno speaks in a British accent, calling the officer "lad" and saying he was "taking the piss."

Back at the house, officers walk in and see Quintana curled up on the couch. An officer gives her a trash can and she begins puking in it while knelt on the floor.

Herrera approaches the officers and is polite, says they are all BCSO deputies and Vazquez-Moreno's girlfriend was upstairs. Maestas immediately tells the officer, "I don't want to be involved."

She denies anything happened and repeatedly refuses to give her name.

Later, when Maestas refuses to give her birth date, the officer asks, "Why are you making this hard for me?" She replies, "Do you want us to show up to your house and do this? ... You understand that this is incredibly invasive, and I don't want to be a part of it."

The officer replies, "Well we are already part of it. You have two officers here in your home ... an officer stopped your boyfriend down the road."

Herrera was more forthcoming, telling police Vazquez-Moreno "started saying some (expletive) up (expletive)," and Maestas told him to leave.

Herrera says "he didn't wanna leave" and pushed Maestas. He tells the officer, "Once he put his hands on her, that's when I stepped in."

Herrera told the officer he pushed Vazquez-Moreno outside and they scuffled as Vazquez-Moreno said, "I'm the baddest (expletive) here." Herrera added, "I told him, I was like, 'Dude you just need to leave.'"

Herrera tells the officer Maestas wouldn't cooperate because she didn't want her boyfriend to get in trouble.

"We're beyond that," the officer tells him.

At one point, an extremely inebriated Quintana interjects that "nothing physical happened" and Herrera replies "Jasmine cut your (expletive), it's not worth it."

Outside the officer briefs his supervisor, "They've all been drinking, I guess they were having a party." The supervisor appears surprised to hear that all involved are BCSO deputies.

They walk inside and Quintana is back on the couch, puking onto the hardwood floor, the trash can feet away. An officer says, "She needs a trash can," and hands her the one she was using before.

Officers speak with Maestas again, and she is more calm and apologetic. They tell her Vazquez-Moreno is going to jail, and she asks when he may be released

"I'm sorry I'm not trying to be difficult. ... It sucks, having my job or not having my job, it sucks to have people show up like this," she says.

Downstairs, the officer tells Maestas that Quintana "threw up all over the floor, just to let you know."

"I'll clean it up," she says.