Repeat Offender from November APD OIS Booked Into MDC

Albuquerque –

According to booking records at the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center, the man responsible for a November kidnapping of a woman, subsequent pursuit, and officer-involved shooting has been released from the hospital. Claude Laska, 32, was discharged from the University of New Mexico Hospital and booked into MDC on January 12, 2025, after spending more than two months hospitalized following the shooting along I-40.

Laska is accused of shooting a man at the Crescent Ridge Apartment Complex on 8500 Bridge Boulevard SW around 8:50 PM on November 2, 2025, firing multiple rounds that also struck nearby apartments. Witnesses told detectives that he then forced a woman into his vehicle and fled the scene. The woman later told detectives that Laska allegedly pistol-whipped her while she was with him.

The incident led to a multi-hour manhunt and vehicle pursuit. According to APD, detectives tracked Laska overnight and made multiple unsuccessful attempts to take him into custody. Just after 4 AM on November 3, officers encountered him driving eastbound on I-40, where he later ran out of gas and pulled over. As officers approached the vehicle, gunshots were heard coming from the direction of the parked car, and an APD officer returned fire, striking Laska. He was taken into custody, given first aid, and transported to the hospital.

According to booking information, Laska is facing a long list of felony charges, including: aggravated battery with a deadly weapon; aggravated battery with a deadly weapon against a household member; aggravated assault with a deadly weapon; aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against a household member; multiple counts of aggravated assault upon a peace officer; kidnapping (first degree); shooting at a dwelling or occupied building with no great bodily harm; shooting at or from a motor vehicle with no great bodily harm; aggravated stalking in violation of a protection order; larceny of a firearm (under $2,500); receipt, transportation, or possession of a firearm or destructive device by a felon; breaking and entering; criminal damage to property involving a household member (under $1,000); interference with communications; and a felony probation violation.

No additional details about Laska’s current medical condition were immediately released. Laska is scheduled to appear before Judge Yvette Gonzales on January 28th at 1:30 PM.

Laska is known to law enforcement agencies around New Mexico. He does have a violent criminal record out of Valencia County with similar charges. He was involved in a SWAT standoff with the New Mexico State Police and Los Lunas Police in November 2024.

In October of 2025, Laska left the state at one point and fled from police in Las Vegas, Nevada, who attempted a traffic stop based on a warrant in Albuquerque. Laska has other encounters with police in Nevada.

On August 2022, Laska was charged in Clark County, Nevada with Discharging a Firearm From a Vehicle and Ex-Felon / Prohibited Person in Possession of a Firearm. He was sentenced to 19-48 months. It is believed he was released from the Nevada Corrections department in October 2024.

Around October 9, 2017, when Laska was 24 years old, he walked away from a minimum-security camp where he was serving a sentence of 19-72 months for a home invasion. He was reportedly apprehended the following day and charged with escape. An additional 12-50 months was added to Laska’s original sentence for escape.

Editor Note:

The information presented in the APD press conference on December 12, 2025, and the accompanying written media release are based on the information provided by the Albuquerque Police Department.