Uber driver arrested for allegedly pointing gun at clients

RIO RANCHO — An uber driver was arrested for pointing a gun at a couple he was driving.

Miguel Bencomo, 39, of Rio Rancho, was arrested for two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon at the Country Club Apartments.

According to a criminal complaint, police responded to a report of an armed subject where an Uber driver reportedly pulled out a gun and pointed it at the couple.

The wife said they requested an Uber from Perfection Honda to return to their apartment. The car that picked them up was Bencomo's. She said he was driving up NM 528 and was getting impatient over traffic. 

She told police he repeatedly made wrong turns and headed in the opposite direction from where they lived. Once they got to the apartments, they asked him to drop them off at the entrance on Southern Boulevard but he tried to continue to the final destination. They got out and the husband slammed the door in Bencomo's face, she said.

The wife said that's when he pointed the gun at them and she ran away toward her apartment.

The husband added that Bencomo made several illegal U-turns and traveled in the wrong direction toward their destination. He told police that he got into an argument with Bencomo about where he was heading.

He admitted to slamming the door to the car and that it made Bencomo angry. He said Bencomo pulled a firearm from his vehicle, pointed it toward the sky, then in his and his wife's direction. He also ran away toward the apartment.

Police got contact information for Bencomo through the Albuquerque Real Time Crime Center.

Over the phone, Bencomo told police he was an Uber driver and had dropped off a couple at the Country Club Apartments. He stated that the male complained about his driving but he was driving normally. When he dropped them off at the apartments, he said, the man slammed the door, which he believed had damaged his property. 

The report notes that Bencomo denied having a gun at first, but then admitted to having a firearm in his vehicle for protection. He said he had the firearm in his hand and admitted to brandishing the gun but denied ever pointing it at the couple. He told police that he instantly knew that what he was doing was wrong and put the firearm away. He repeatedly said that he only pointed the firearm at the sky and never at them.

Bencomo agreed to meeting the officers back at the apartments, where they arrested him.

If he is convicted, Bencomo faces three years in prison.