DA declines charges in shooting by deputy

The local district’s attorney announced his office will not file charges against a Quay County sheriff’s deputy over the July shooting of an armed Tucumcari man during a domestic dispute.

Deputy Joseph Otero shot Mathew J. Dimas, 38, three times early July 19 during a standoff in the backyard of a Logan home. Dimas died while being transported by ambulance to Trigg Memorial Hospital in Tucumcari.

District Attorney Timothy Rose sent a letter last month to New Mexico State Police Agent Justin Tiemann and other state police officials, stating no charges would be filed and that no further investigation was needed after he reviewed reports of the shooting.

“In my opinion, no reasonable jury could find that law enforcement Deputy Sheriff Otero used excessive force when his decision to discharge the firearm was made,” Rose wrote.

Rose cited these factors in his decision:

— Otero “was in the legal discharge of his duties” when he contacted Dimas who, after threatening the lives of others, holed up in a shed with a gun;

— Dimas refused commands from officers to put down his weapon and repeatedly aimed his firearm at them “while making repeated threats that he would shoot and kill officers”;

— “It was reasonable for Deputy Otero to believe that Mathew Dimas was going to shoot Deputy Otero or other officers” when Otero fired;

— Otero “used great restraint and used deadly force only as a last and necessary option.”

Rose added: “I have no trouble concluding that Deputy Otero’s use of deadly force was objectively reasonable, and in fact necessary to preserve life, from his perspective on the scene and with the understanding that officers must make split-second decisions in difficult situations.

“Based on my review, the use of delay force by Deputy Otero was legally justified in that it was reasonably necessary to to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself and other officers.”

According to state police reports obtained in September by the Quay County Sun, Dimas also had at least one homemade bomb in his home and had threatened to use pipe bombs against his wife and children.

After shooting Dimas, officers found what appeared to be two bombs fashioned from oxygen bottles in the shed where he had holed up. No explosive material was found in the bottles.

At Dimas’ home in the 1500 block of South Jackson Street in Tucumcari, a bomb squad found one improvised explosive device and a small amount of powder.

“The item that was discovered appeared to be a firework within a tube type container that was wrapped heavily with duct tape with a hobby fuse coming out of one end,” the report stated.

The bomb, declared a hazard by state police, was removed from the home, examined with X-rays and rendered so it would not pose any threats. Police also found fireworks on a work bench at the home.

The state police report labeled the shooting of Dimas as a “justifiable homicide.”

Quay County Sheriff Dennis Garcia said in a telephone interview Thursday his office was concluding an internal investigation, based on the DA’s letter, of the shooting later this week.

“We’re trying to make sure all policies were abided by,” Garcia said, adding he found no problems in the internal probe so far.

An attempt to reach Otero for comment was unsuccessful.

Bobbie Dimas, Mathew Dimas’ widow, in a telephone interview Thursday initially declined to comment about the DA’s letter, saying she was speaking to an attorney about the matter.

“I was truly upset with what was written about it,” she later said. “That was my husband.”

Bobbie had filed restraining orders against her husband, alleging physical abuse and threats and stating “he told me he would kill my family if we left.”

She noted he had made threats “to kill me and law (e)nforcement.” She alleged he had abused narcotic drugs.

She had left her Tucumcari home to stay with family members in Logan less than two days before the confrontation and shooting.