Chase Beltramo, 41, a male from Albuquerque, died on the evening of October 16, 2025, after a confrontation outside the Spirit Halloween store at 2103 Carlisle Blvd. NE. Around 5 p.m., a store security guard confronted Beltramo over roughly $90 in merchandise and forced the struggle into the storefront area, where surveillance video captured the guard tackling him into a steel pole and striking him while ordering him not to move. Pepper spray was deployed during the fight.
Moments later, shots were fired; officers arrived to find Beltramo mortally wounded, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Records and memorial listings identified Beltramo and confirmed the date and location of the killing.
Detectives determined the guard, 25-year-old Josiah Armijo, had probable cause to stop a suspected shoplifting but lacked legal justification to use deadly force. He was arrested and charged with second-degree murder, with investigators noting Beltramo was unarmed during the encounter. A criminal complaint describes Armijo tackling Beltramo, threatening to shoot him, and drawing his gun during the struggle before the fatal rounds were fired; medical details in the filings describe wounds to the upper torso and buttocks. The following day, a judge ordered Armijo released on his own recognizance while the case proceeds.
