A program manager with the city’s Violence Intervention Program has been charged with misdemeanor battery.

According to court documents filed on May 8 in Metropolitan Court, a woman accused Angel Garcia of kissing and groping her without her consent while they were at a Cheba Hut on April 13. She told police that he pulled her hair and held her so hard by the throat that she couldn’t breathe. 

“Albuquerque Community Safety was made aware of an investigation into the alleged off-duty conduct of a former employee,” said Jorge Hernandez, a spokesperson for ACS, in response to questions about Garcia. “We placed the individual on administrative leave when we were made aware.” 

Hernandez said ACS takes allegations of misconduct seriously and Garcia is no longer employed by Albuquerque Community Safety or the City of Albuquerque. He said Garcia resigned in lieu of termination. 

Albuquerque’s Violence Intervention Program began in March 2020 and Garcia had been there since at least August of that same year. He was the Social Services Program Manager.

The officer-prosecuted case is scheduled to be heard June 3. 

City Desk ABQ was unable to reach Garcia for comment on this article. It is unclear at this time who his attorney is. 

She said she couldn’t breathe 

The woman told police she was at Hooters with her boss celebrating her birthday when Garcia asked them to join him at Cheba Hut. 

While sitting at a booth with several other people, the woman said Garcia wrapped his arm around her throat so firmly that she lost the ability to breathe. He pulled her hair causing pain and kissed her, even though she told him no, according to the affidavit.

Charging documents state that Garcia also reached across the woman’s body touching her breast over her clothes.

The woman attempted to get away from Garcia, according to the affidavit, but he was holding onto her too tightly. She was only released when one of her friends intervened by yelling and threatening to hit Garcia. 

After Garcia released the woman, charging documents state the woman and her friend went to the bathroom. According to the affidavit, the woman didn’t feel as though she could leave the restaurant because she had driven her boss there. 

After the two friends came back from the bathroom, Garcia allegedly invited the woman to sit between him and her coworker. The affidavit states that Garcia began to kiss the woman, who kissed him back out of fear that he would not let her go if she had not done so. 

Outside the restaurant, the woman and her boss got into the front seats of the woman’s vehicle. Garcia allegedly got into the back of the car and shrugged his shoulders at the woman when she yelled at him to get out. He drove with the two to the woman’s boss’s house, while the third woman followed in another vehicle. 

When the party arrived at the woman’s boss’s house, charging documents state that the three women waited outside with Garcia until relatives came to pick him up. 

According to the affidavit, video from the Cheba Hut corroborated the woman’s story.

Before the VIP 

According to an Albuquerque Journal article published in 2020, Garcia was involved with gangs between the ages of 12 and 33. He’d been shot and stabbed and spent years behind bars. Garcia touted this as lived experience that made him an asset to the Violence Intervention Program, which tries to prevent retaliation for gun violence by offering victims the resources they need to remove themselves from activities that continue the cycle of violence. 

Garcia moved to Albuquerque after being released from jail and eventually graduated from Central New Mexico Community College with a degree in electrical trades. 

Garcia began working with the City of Albuquerque as a case manager after Mayor Tim Keller heard him give a speech.