An Albuquerque police officer investigating an incident between mayoral candidate Daniel Chavez and his former staffer found probable cause to charge him with battery, according to court documents filed in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court and obtained by City Desk ABQ.
The criminal complaint, filed in July, alleges that Daniel Chavez inappropriately touched a person without consent while leaving a candidate meeting with the board of the New Mexico Restaurant Association on June 19. The charge is a misdemeanor. The case was discovered as a part of City Desk’s research for profiles of mayoral candidates and does not appear to have been previously reported or disclosed by Chavez in news interviews or public forums, although the case has been pending in court since July.
According to the complaint, the alleged victim reported that Chavez “grabbed and patted their buttocks twice without consent” as they were walking down a hallway as the two were leaving the meeting. The complaint states the victim emphasized the contact was unwelcome and non-consensual.
“The claims made are unequivocally false and we will be fighting them,” Chavez told City Desk ABQ by email Tuesday afternoon.
Chavez, the president of Parking Company of America, is one of several candidates vying to unseat Mayor Tim Keller in November.
The alleged victim had been employed by Chavez as part of his mayoral campaign, according to the complaint. The victim told police they were a social media manager for the campaign and that they and Chavez had attended the New Mexico Restaurant Association’s board meeting as part of their campaign duties.
The victim told police they had previously informed Chavez on multiple occasions that they were in a committed relationship with a partner, according to the complaint. The victim also advised that they identify as non-binary and were not interested in any type of romantic or physical relationship with Chavez.
The complaint states the victim told police they had experienced previous inappropriate behavior, including was an instance where Chavez “insinuated that they were having an affair, which made [the victim] uncomfortable.”
According to the complaint, the victim said they had taken to avoiding walking in front of Chavez “in order to avoid inappropriate behavior” and had established boundaries with him.
The alleged victim told police they confronted Chavez about the incident, and he “responded by stating he believed [the victim] was his wife and apologized for the incident,” according to the complaint. The victim told police a staff member from the association had been present and made eye contact with them during the touching, but that person denied any knowledge of the incident to police. Reached by City Desk on Tuesday, the association’s staff member confirmed that they did not recall the incident. City Desk does not publicly identify the names of victims or witnesses of alleged crimes.
Following the incident, the victim received an email on June 26 from Chavez requesting that they sign a non-disclosure agreement, according to the complaint. When the victim declined to sign the NDA, they were terminated from their position on June 27, the complaint states.
Chavez, 47, was charged under New Mexico statute 30-3-4 with battery (non-household member), a petty misdemeanor.
Court records show Chavez pleaded not guilty on Aug. 28 and was released on personal recognizance with several conditions, including avoiding contact with the alleged victim.
A bench trial is scheduled for Oct. 14 at Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court.
Chavez made a big entrance into the mayoral campaign with a $100,000 personal loan to fund qualifying signature collections. He has been active in public forums but his most recent campaign finance report shows little fundraising or campaign spending since qualifying.