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on june 25th 2020 in roswell new mexico
new mexico state police investigated and
interviewed cory king
the former journalist who was accused of
being a police officer
the warrant included electronic devices
of audio visual recordings of incidents
from him impersonating a police officer
and his 2014 ford explorer outfitted
with lights
sirens and horns imitating a police unit
king was cooperative with state police
who conducted the search warrant
he answered questions about the initial
investigation during the search warrant
the upcoming videos are from lapel
footage we obtained from chavez county
of an alleged dwi
incident where king pulled over a car on
april 11
2020 and the search warrant case we
recently released
also with me following these pursuits i
have to look out for them as well
i'm not trying to rush in certain places
even if i have an open
at speed limits 50 and i'm doing 50. i
still don't want to blatantly rush in
there there's other officers coming in
there's other things going on and i know
these type of things
so i don't just rush in there or even
if you're on scene i don't i try to
distance myself so that you don't feel
fearful or
that's part of the reason that i have
the lights on my vehicle if i pull up on
a scene let's say you guys have a scene
right here at night and i pull up the
vehicle pulls up on you ominously and
stops and something gets out you don't
know who it is but if i turn them yellow
lights on
and you've come in contact with me one
time in the prior
good contact or bad you know that that
vehicle now belongs to somebody that's
not gonna at least harm you you know
what i'm saying
i mean maybe maybe could but that's
that's literally the reason that i have
those and why
they're used on scene is because i don't
want in any sort of way to have bad
contacts with you guys where you guys
have been caught talking to me
when i first started this type of stuff
i used to get tried to run off the
scenes and i
never impeded a scene i never crossed if
you guys park seven cop cars here well
in my mentality the last cop cars the
beginning of your crime scene so i won't
pass that last cop car
so i've had used to have a lot of like
beefing with rpd and stuff that just
they didn't know what i was doing or
they thought i was doing bad or i'm
filming
the victims like there's certain ways i
do my stories i can completely i have
all right to film whatever i want but
if there's an injured person over there
i'm not filming them that's that's just
me as
a human being same with you guys i don't
try to film your face i don't try to do
none of that now
i have the right to but at the same time
you guys don't need that extra stuff on
top of your job so that's just how i
do what i do uh i tiptoe in this as
lightly as i can i try to
get these relationships with you guys
that's why i try to do this documentary
with the sheriffs
i've been trying to do it with you guys
but it's really difficult with insurance
and stuff and
i've been dealing with captain last name
and we've been trying to do it for years
same with rpd
and the reason i want to do it is not
just let the community get to know you
guys but i want you guys to know me
that in any sort of the sense i'm not
trying to do what you guys are
investigating me for
period uh by me being just as first off
by me being on the phone with deputy
video calling a dwi driver never leaving
the scene and staying there in the
uniform
i did not expect that that was going to
go that way because i didn't expect
or or i didn't have in my own mind the
mentality that i wasn't personally an
officer
you you killed me yeah that's that was
my what were you wearing in the day of
the pursuit
this so it was the the
day of the dwi you're wearing security
uniforms yeah and the only reason that i
was in that specific uniform is because
at the most an hour before that i
responded to a stabbing
so i called her i didn't initiate i
didn't talk to him
i didn't go up and say i'm an officer he
smoked
like a kid you know i didn't tell him
whatever the [ __ ] he in the car
nothing
because i'm not nothing all i did was
let him know that i'm not here to
[ __ ]
shoot him follow him nothing like that
that's the only reason i put the life
i didn't approach him and say that i'm a
monster i'm here to follow you
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actually left early or else she would
have been the one to drive us
yeah she actually was supposed to be the
one to drive us home
and she left early so no
she's your only ride then you should
probably leave early too you're gonna
stay and drink anyway
she left about 30 minutes before us you
had this much to drink
it's her 30th birthday she's had more
than i have okay
happy birthday it's kind of awkward
now but yeah
let me ask you a question um how did he
identify himself
oh i don't know how he
he didn't identify himself at all like i
said i we
she wanted some burritos we stopped and
got her a couple of burritos
we pulled up to the house and this
target keep it down keep it down
this car stopped right here keep it down
keep your voice down
this vehicle stopped right here and like
um
i'm not dealing with anything like that
right now so i stepped out of the
vehicle and i was like can i help you
and that's when i saw the light he
turned the lights on and everything else
and that
when all this occurred now
yeah nothing nothing whatsoever
nothing whatsoever did he approach you
no sir
and we normally don't
we kind of get confrontational but
because he started as soon as he asked
can i help you then he turned on his
life
yeah and he waited until he asked can i
help you twice
until he came out so did he stay in the
car or did he get out yeah
no he got out of the car after he asked
the second time can i help you
then he got him and did he say anything
no
not a word whatsoever he he had
well he identified himself as a
sheriff's officer
and that's when he asked for my he did
yeah eventually not not right away he
did not identify himself right away
and he asked for your id that was me
that asked for your id you came up and
asked for my id
yeah but that other than that like i
said i just saw the lights and stuff and
he literally waited until we both walked
out of the truck we both got out of the
truck and he asked him twice
can i help you until he got out of the
car
and then he didn't even ask him i saw
the vest
in my pants i'm not gonna lie and then i
you you put two and two together it's a
police officer
my mom but but did he did he tell you he
was
a deputy with the sheriff's office no
sir he didn't say anything okay
all right
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do you want to press charges
impersonating peace officer no is he a
police officer did you feel threatened
i'm at my house you know i mean if you
i'm not gonna lie if you're gonna step
up i mean you don't step up but
i mean he didn't step up or anything so
i mean i i
i didn't feel threatened at all no okay
okay all right i'm still threatened you
guys are doing your job and i i'm not
gonna lie i appreciate it
i probably should have stayed on my
brother-in-law and my sister-in-laws
keep your voice down to school i
probably should have stayed out there
tonight
but i didn't me and my wife and my kids
wanted to come home like i said it's our
30th birthday
we barbecued today but because we're in
town nobody wanted to come to the house
yeah it's understandable
so i mean we went out to the county yeah
yeah definitely
oh yeah i'm an essential employee too i
work in the oil and gas industry i'm on
call
seven days a week hopefully not
hopefully not tonight oh no no no no
they didn't call me before four o'clock
so i ain't answering the phone after
four
okay i'm gonna go talk to this deputy
appreciate here
recording
not good corey
you can't be doing this man
you can't pull people over i literally i
i promise you i'm not even
i don't give a [ __ ] what this guy said i
didn't pull nobody over i didn't
initiate likes
i stopped here on the phone with her he
got out the truck jumped out all fast i
was just trying to give her the plate
he jumped i dropped his keys he said
what are you doing why are you
why are you behind me that's when i put
the lights on
so he doesn't [ __ ] come near my car
well why would he why would you put
those
lights on why would you put those lights
on
they're on the side because look he's
yeah i know
so okay i was at the office
uploading the code five story so i'm
just the way i am
returning home reddit
ballard in grant whatever he flies past
me
all i did was follow him i was on the
phone with her the entire time
we can't even pull the [ __ ] i didn't
initiate my
[ __ ] camera but i promise you i'm not
gonna lie i'm not doing nothing i'm not
the first handle [ __ ]
nothing like that all i did
so i called her i didn't initiate i
didn't talk to him
i didn't go up and say i'm an officer at
your id he smoked
kids you know i didn't tell him whatever
the [ __ ] stay in the car nothing
because i'm not nothing all i did was
let him know that i'm not here to
[ __ ]
shoot him follow him like that that's
the whole reason that i put the lights
on
that was it i didn't approach him and
say that i'm an officer i'm here to
follow you
anything like that did you get out of
the car
yes sir why
how am i supposed to let them know what
i'm doing like
all i did was step right here outside of
my vehicle door was open
right after that i'm still on the phone
with her the entire time right
that's when he passes and
i look at you i know you're all like
you're all like
you're all attacked out like fully you
got a gun i understand
i got a it's secured i just noticed that
a minute ago
so look this i roll these down like
fireman's status they sit in my room
they lay there
anytime there's a code for code five i
respond like this i get it
i i really i i'm not even i'll shut the
[ __ ] up but i promise you
i understand what i look like i really
do this is not what i'm trying to do
and i promise you i apologize like i'm
not pulling nobody over
i'm not doing nothing like period it's
not what i'm here to do
period all right well you're being
advised we're going to write this up
okay [ __ ] yeah i understand it um
and then we're going to present it to
our admin all right man let them deal
with it
okay so if we have to go further then
we'll go further
no okay yes sir but oh no no no
you have to understand the gravity when
i got here
yeah you thought you were undercover i
really do and
that's what i heard him say when he got
out i never identified myself
i understand my vehicle looks like it
and i turn the lights off and i i'm
dressed away
i really do i and i i understand that
all you can hear i saw you guys hanging
over here talking
and i've seen you looking at me and
that's why i look down this is my
security bed i own a security company i
this is what the gear is for
but i know it's [ __ ] everything on
top of each each other looks bad
like it really does i talked to the
sheriff the other day i was doing a
story in regards
to somebody's apparently pulling people
over um esso or state police doing a
story in regards
i promise you that's not what the [ __ ]
i'm doing it's not what i'm here to do
it's not what i plan to do tonight
nothing like this i just seen him swerve
with kids in the vehicle and i was like
i'm gonna leave call it in
i called her i text her first yeah then
he that's when
he went to go all crazy right here at
main street
i called her because they're texting
some [ __ ] it's like why
why wouldn't you just call i'm online
it's not an emergency well i mean it is
well i
don't know like it was just if it wasn't
an emergency you wouldn't have stopped
i understand that yes sir i have no
excuses
we receive tips all the time
i'm not going to say an arc but
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it doesn't look good straight up
it doesn't look good literally when you
guys are coming to me right now
like i'm seriously still like
you got to think about these you got to
think about your your actions i mean you
could have just rolled by and got the
got the 28 and the description of the
person you didn't have to stop that's
why i stopped to get the plate i
couldn't get this plate
i stopped that's when he jumped out he
dropped his keys
said what are you doing i'm on the phone
with her
and i was trying to let him know all i
did he didn't have to get out
yes sir you did not have to get out but
that's that's a choice you made so
horrible
yes sir okay
like you guys
now question yeah did i [ __ ] up a
potential arrest of the way i
conducted myself here oh absolutely
yes because absolutely tell you right
now
if you would have just drove by and told
me the address
or vehicle description cross street
and just kept going we would have like
made contact investigated it
and he would have admitted what he
already did
for you there's another thing man you
gotta
you gotta do something you gotta do
something different
like i don't know what our admins told
you but
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oh man like when i left my office
those people you have to make that
decision
what happens if i do make that decision
i will get because of everything that's
going on with the
covenant right now and all of that
basically we'll just end up going to
court with it okay
so can we do that you want to do that
yes sir
okay all right we'll get it handled
yes sir um he got his phone number and
everything okay
yeah we'll do that sir okay it's
officer hendricks and de la cruz
yeah all right okay so
we'll uh we'll get it written up well
where do i go to pick up the police
report
uh chavez county sheriff's office being
all saint mary old same marriage yes sir
yes sir okay sir all right
yeah he's changed his mind he does want
to press charge
all right corey so here's the deal
just because of everything that went
down with the lights and then when you
exited the vehicle you're wearing a
badge a gun
okay um i'm gonna be citing you for
impersonating a peace officer in
violation of 30-27-2.1
it's just going to be in recitation
we're not taking you to jail over it
you need to make a court appearance on
or by next friday the 17th
at noon okay this is also going to be
going to our admin
so i just need your signature there by
signing you're not admitting guilt all
you're doing is promising to make the
appearance
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yeah and that's that's the thing is that
had it been handled differently on your
part we could have taken
action so
i hate these citations
okay so there's your copy
you have anything else for him that's
right