VALENCIA COUNTY, N.M. -- A Valencia
County deputy is under fire after the sheriff said he gave fake names to
a Los Lunas woman when he showed up at her home.Sheriff Louis Burkhard said there was a policy violation when a deputy lied about who he and his fellow deputy were.The
Los Lunas woman, Julie Abbott, said she dreaded encountering anyone
from the Valencia County Sheriff's Office after the two deputies showed
up at her home.The incident where one deputy wrote down fake
names for himself and the other deputy was caught on tape. He wrote "J.
Jones" and "N. Dills" as their identification."It is a policy violation, and it will be dealt with," Burkhard said.Burkhard said he is not identifying the deputy because he hasn't been disciplined yet and can still appeal the findings.The question remains as to why a deputy would lie to a resident about his name."If
it's a violation of policy, we may not know exactly why that occurred,
but we will make sure that gets corrected and appropriate action is
taken," Burkhard said.Burkhard said investigators have also found
possible conduct issues with another investigation Abbot requested on
how she's been treated by the department. He said it will likely result
in policy and training changes.Abbott said she is relieved."I
was absolutely shocked to hear that the department is now taking some
responsibility for what happened," Abbott said. "I just want to thank
KOAT for pursuing this relentlessly and seeing it through."The deputy who gave fake names will not face termination and is not currently on leave, Burkhard said.The
other deputy in the video is not in trouble, because he told
investigators he had no idea his fellow deputy wrote down fake names.