Wife claims fallen New Mexico officer was led into ambush with no backup in lawsuit notice

LAS CRUCES, NM (CBS4) — The wife of fallen New Mexico State Police Officer Darian Jarrott claims he was led into a dangerous situation with no information or backup.

A tort notice, the first step to filing a wrongful death lawsuit, was sent to the State of New Mexico on behalf of Gabriella Jarrott and her attorney said another notice to the Department of Homeland Security is coming this week.

NMSP officials said Officer Jarrott was assisting Homeland Security Investigations on February 2 when he stopped a vehicle along I-10 East near Deming, New Mexico.

Video from Jarrott's lapel and dashcam shows him speaking with the driver of that video, at one point noticing a firearm and asking the driver to exit the vehicle.

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The driver, identified as 39-year-old Omar Felix Cueva of Deming, exited the vehicle with an AR-15-style rifle and began firing at Officer Jarrott who appeared caught by surprise.

As Cueva ran toward the front of the truck on the passenger’s side, he shot Jarrott point-blank in the back of the head.

According to Attorney Sam Bregman, who is representing Gabriella Jarrott, Officer Jarrott was not informed of the situation he was walking into.

“Homeland Security agents asked Officer Jarrott to pull over a car, when they knew the occupant of the vehicle was a known violent felon with semi automatic weapons and large amount of drugs inside the vehicle, they did so without telling Officer Jarrott of any of this,” Bregman said.

Bregman said the family of Officer Jarrott wants to hold Homeland Security and New Mexico State Police responsible for omissions that may have led to his death.

“There was no reason for Officer Jarrott to out in the middle of no where to stop a known, violent criminal who had guns and drugs in the vehicle with no back up," Bregman said. "You don’t just stop people like this who are known violent criminals with no help and they didn’t tell him any of this, they just told him to stop the vehicle.”

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Cueva led law enforcement on a pursuit on I-10 east that involved officers from the Las Cruces Police Department, Dona Ana County Sheriff's Office, U.S. Border Patrol and New Mexico State Police.

Officials said Cueva fired at officers while being pursued and that several officers fired at his vehicle.

Cueva was eventually stopped by LCPD Officer Adrian De La Garza who utilized a Pursuit Intervention Technique maneuver near mile marker 140.

Cueva exited the pickup armed with a firearm and shot multiple rounds towards officers and deputies.

LCPD Officer Adrian De La Garza and DASO Deputies Diego Herrera and Obed Marte returned fire towards Cueva, who was struck several times by gunfire.

Officer De La Garza was struck by gunfire and was airlifted to a trauma hospital in Texas where he was treated and released for non-life-threatening injuries.

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Cueva died from his injuries at the scene.

Officer Jarrott was laid to rest on Friday, February 12 at Shakespeare Cemetery in Lordsburg during a private burial.

New Mexico State Police said it does not comment on pending litigation and that an investigation is active and ongoing by the NMSP Investigations Bureau.

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