Man Arrested After SWAT Situation, Charged with Pointing Gun at Dollar General Employee and Fleeing Police

Albuquerque –

On July 28th, 2026, the Albuquerque Police were dispatched to the Dollar General located on 4208 Central Ave SW in reference to an armed robbery. When officers arrived an employee stated she confronted a known shoplifter and told him to leave. He told the employee “I’ll shoot,” and began to take merchandise. He left the store in a Black Nissan.

APD was able to locate the car across the street and officers tried to stop the car. An officer recognized the known offender as 42-year-old Leonard Hidalgo and he was with an unknown female. A GPS device was deployed on the car by police and it fled at a high rate of speed away from officers. Police were able to deploy stop sticks on the fleeing Nissan.

Hildalgo then fled to a Speedway gas station located at 1897 Coors Blvd SW and he ran into the gas station where he barricaded himself. APD and Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office were able to establish a perimeter. All employees were able to exit the building. Many public address attempts were made by patrol officers to try to get Hidalgo to exit peacefully but he refused to exit the store.

The APD SWAT team showed up and took over the scene. After a few hours of being barricaded inside Hildalgo peacefully surrendered. It is unclear if Hildalgo took advantage of the stores well stocked inventory of snacks and drinks before finally giving up to the police.

Hildalgo has a long criminal history dating back to 2014 and he was on probation/parole with the New Mexico Corrections Department. He has now been charged with armed robbery, aggravated fleeing law enforcement, and possession of a firearm by a known convicted felon.