A fourth Albuquerque Police Department officer has resigned rather than be interviewed as part of an internal investigation into allegations of misconduct by DWI officers.

Nelson Ortiz resigned Thursday, according to a news release.  

“Investigators were attempting to schedule an interview with Ortiz, but he decided to resign,” the release states.

Ortiz, who joined APD in January 2016, served on the DWI unit from 2018 to 2021, according to APD. He had since served in the Motors Unit.

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He is the second officer under investigation to resign this week. Harvey Johnson resigned on Wednesday. 

Ortiz and Johnson were two of the five officers who were put on administrative leave in mid-January shortly after news broke that the FBI was investigating corruption within the DWI unit and the office of a local defense attorney, Thomas Clear III. Two others, Justin Hunt and Honorio Alba resigned in February. Officer Joshua Montaño remains on the force. 

APD is also investigating Cmdr. Mark Landavazo, who was in the Internal Affairs Division and has been put on administrative leave, and a lieutenant in the Internal Affairs Division who has been transferred to another unit while the investigation continues. The lieutenant’s name has not been publicly released.

No one has been charged in the federal investigation.

Elise Kaplan is the assistant editor for investigations and special projects at City Desk. Elise Kaplan has been reporting in and around Albuquerque for about a decade. After graduating from the University...

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  1. Yeah, right, just let the officers under investigation resign, and, ta-da! they are off the hook, free to apply as police officers anywhere else in the state or country.

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