Bernalillo County Sheriff Office has fired one of its officers and plans to terminate a second after conducting an internal affairs investigation.
Sheriff John Allen said that the office fired Deputy Jacob Zamora on April 7. Zamora was a probationary deputy who recently graduated from the police academy.
BCSO has initiated an internal affairs investigation into Zamora following a notification from the ATF that a rifle used in a recent homicide had a serial number matching that of a BCSO department rifle.
The administration then immediately placed Zamora on administrative leave.
Someone committed a homicide during the New Year in downtown Albuquerque and the Albuquerque Police Department is investigating it.
BCSO discovered that Zamora’s department-issued AR-15 was stolen from his personal vehicle, but he did not report the theft. Instead, Sheriff Allen stated that Zamora replaced it with a personal rifle.
“You’re always supposed to secure your firearm no matter what, even if it’s in your personal vehicle. My question would be, if he was still here…One, why is it in your personal vehicle? Two, why wasn’t it stowed away like the way you were trained in the BCSO Academy that you graduated in October of 2025? And if it’s left unlocked and unsecure, why?” said Allen.
On April 2025, BCSO hired Zamora and he graduated from police academy October of the same year. The department issued him his firearms in August of 2025.
Zamora’s Plan Against Deputy Bryan Lassley
Sheriff Allen told that Zamora plans to fire Deputy Bryan Lassley after a use-of-force incident near the Youth Detention Center.
A body camera footage dating back from December 3, 2025, shows a possible use of excessive force involving Lassley and a 16-year-old girl.
In the video, Lassley is seen shoving the teen’s face into the backseat of a police car multiple times, all while she is handcuffed.
Deputies called to Youth Detention Center for a disturbance involving the teenage girl who left the center.
According to deputies, she had already injured a few deputies at the scene before Lassley arrived to assist his fellow deputies.
The police placed the teen in the back of the police car and that’s when Lassley begins documenting her injuries.
At first, she appears calm but eventually gets agitated with Lassley.
Body camera video shows Lassley slamming the girl’s head into the floorboard until other deputies intervene to stop him. Lassley claimed the teen kicked him.
After receiving the information, Sheriff Allen initiated an internal investigation into Lassley, placed him on administrative leave, and requested a Multi-Agency task Force investigation.
New Mexico State Police became the lead agency on the investigation and shared their findings with the district attorney’s office.
“Once I saw the video, I will be very upfront with you. I was pretty pissed, and I was appalled,” said Allen.
Due to the possibility of criminal charges, the department put the internal affairs investigation on hold.
“Deputy Lassley, I will be going to terminate. This is not what the public expects, nor are we perfect. But this is not acceptable behavior, and if you cannot control your temper, your emotions, how you control yourself, and even more specifically with juveniles, and from what I saw in the body cam, it is not acceptable,” said Allen.
The district attorney’s office has been investigating for more than two weeks whether it will file any charges against Lassley.
Once criminal investigation is finished, BCSO will reopen its internal investigation into him, and once it’s complete, he will fire Lassley.
Lassley was involved in a deadly crash dating back to August 2024. Investigators say he rear-ended a car and killed the driver.
