A New Mexico property owner who allegedly spent years confronting fishermen along a river bordering his land eventually found state investigators waiting at his driveway with an arrest warrant carrying six criminal charges.
The bodycam footage was featured by the YouTube channel Arrest Cam Fish and Wildlife, whose host said the man had been accused of threatening anglers along the Pecos River between April 2023 and March 2026.
According to the channel’s summary of the criminal complaint, the dispute went beyond angry words. The property owner was accused of using firearms during some confrontations, putting up barriers, and even having holes dug to make it harder for anglers to travel along the river.
By the time New Mexico Department of Justice investigators arrived at another residence to arrest him, however, the man repeatedly insisted that he believed the matter had already been handled in court.
“I am totally confused,” he told investigators.
A Long-Running Fight Over River Access
The Arrest Cam Fish and Wildlife narrator explained that the criminal case followed an earlier civil dispute involving the property owner and the New Mexico Department of Justice.
In that civil litigation, the state successfully argued that members of the public could lawfully recreate in the river even where the water runs alongside private property.
The criminal investigation was separate.
According to the channel, investigators later received cell phone footage from an angler that appeared to show the property owner carrying a shotgun while confronting fishermen.
In the video, the man could be heard telling anglers to stay in the river and off his land.
“It’s my land,” he said. “I’ve got a right to target practice.”
He then apparently threatened to begin shooting across the area.
The anglers responded that they were not trying to enter or damage his property and said they were practicing catch-and-release fishing.
The confrontation is important because the criminal allegations centered not simply on someone possessing a firearm on private land, but on whether the weapon was used in a threatening way toward people using the river.
Investigators Meet Him at the Driveway
New Mexico Department of Justice investigators eventually secured an arrest warrant.
Bodycam footage shows them intercepting the man as he began pulling into a driveway at a different residence from the property where the alleged incidents had happened.
An investigator asked him to step out of his vehicle.
The man immediately wanted to know why.
“We have a warrant for your arrest,” the investigator said.
When asked what for, the officer told him the warrant involved aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and referred to multiple incidents over several years.
The man refused at first to simply step out.
“No. I’m going to go in and talk to my wife,” he said.
Investigators repeatedly told him they did not want the situation to become more difficult and offered to show him the signed warrant.
Eventually, they allowed him to pull farther into the driveway before getting out.
That was a surprisingly patient approach considering the warrant involved allegations concerning firearms. The officers appeared focused on keeping the encounter calm rather than immediately escalating the situation.
‘We Already Went to Court’
Both the man and his wife seemed convinced that the arrest was somehow connected to the earlier civil proceeding.
They repeatedly told investigators that a judge had already directed them to repair or undo changes made near the river.
His wife said they had complied with the judge’s order within three days.
The investigators explained that the matter in front of them was different.
“As I believe that was a civil hearing,” one officer said. “This is a criminal matter.”
The wife continued asking how charges could suddenly appear when they had not been at the river property for weeks.
Investigators told her that the alleged offenses did not necessarily occur recently.
The warrant could relate to older incidents that had only now moved into the criminal system.
That distinction seemed difficult for both of them to accept.
“But how would we not know about this?” she asked.
The officer responded that they would not necessarily have learned about a separate criminal investigation during a civil hearing.
Homeowner Denies Threatening Anyone
After investigators read him his rights, the man agreed to continue speaking.
He denied the allegations.
He acknowledged one incident involving a shotgun but said he had simply been walking on his own property while carrying it.
“There was one incident where I was walking around on my property with a shotgun because these guys were trespassing,” he said.
He insisted he never pointed the firearm at anyone.
“It’s my property. I’m allowed to have a gun on my property in the county,” he said.
When an investigator asked whether he had said anything to the fishermen, the man maintained that he had only told them to stay in the river and not trespass on his land.
He repeatedly asked to see the evidence.
The investigators responded that the warrant had already been reviewed and signed by a judge.
At that stage, their job was not to decide whether he was guilty but to execute the arrest.
That is an important point in cases like this. An arrest warrant does not establish guilt, but once a judge issues one, officers generally do not conduct a mini-trial in the driveway before taking someone into custody.
His Wife Tries to Understand What Happens Next
The man’s wife became increasingly worried as officers placed him in handcuffs.
She asked to speak to a lawyer before investigators took him away.
“That’s not an option,” an officer told her, while explaining that she was free to call whoever she needed.
The man also contacted someone named John by phone and said he was not entirely sure why he was being arrested.
“The charge on the warrant is aggravated assault,” he said.
Investigators told him he would likely be transported to the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center and would then have to appear before a judge.
His wife asked about release, bond, and whether a judge would be available over the weekend.
The officers said those decisions were outside their control.
One investigator explained that after booking, the case would proceed through the criminal court system, beginning with an appearance before a judge and later an arraignment.
The uncertainty clearly unsettled both of them.
“I don’t know what to do,” his wife said.
“I don’t know what to do either, sweetie,” he replied.
Six Charges Filed
According to Arrest Cam Fish and Wildlife, the man was ultimately charged with five counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and one count of public nuisance.
Those six counts were tied to the broader pattern of alleged confrontations along the river.
The channel host said three of the aggravated assault charges were eventually deferred, while the other three charges were dropped.
The court website provided little detail about the final sentencing, according to the narrator, though it appeared the man received some form of probation connected to the three deferred aggravated assault counts.
That outcome is worth emphasizing because the original arrest warrant represented allegations, not final convictions on every charge.
The case ultimately ended with a much narrower result than the six-count warrant initially suggested.
A Property Dispute That Escalated Far Beyond Fishing
What began as an argument over fishermen using a river beside private land eventually became a civil case, a criminal investigation, an arrest and six charges.
The bodycam footage shows just how differently the two sides understood what was happening.
The property owner believed he had already gone to court and complied with what a judge required.
State investigators, meanwhile, were there on a completely separate criminal warrant tied to accusations that he had threatened anglers over a period of years.
The strongest part of the case, at least from the footage highlighted by Arrest Cam Fish and Wildlife, was the cell phone video that appeared to capture one of those confrontations.
Whatever frustration a landowner may feel about people fishing near private property, introducing a firearm into an argument dramatically changes the stakes.
In this case, the dispute eventually moved far beyond questions about where someone could stand with a fishing rod.
By the end of the bodycam footage, the homeowner was being transferred for booking while his wife stood nearby trying to understand what came next.
The river-access fight had become a criminal case, and the arguments that once happened along the water were now headed into court.
A former park ranger and wildlife conservationist, Lisa’s passion for survival started with her deep connection to nature. Raised on a small farm in northern Wisconsin, she learned how to grow her own food, raise livestock, and live off the land. Lisa is our dedicated Second Amendment news writer and also focuses on homesteading, natural remedies, and survival strategies. Lisa aims to help others live more sustainably and prepare for the unexpected.
