Death by Cop 2021-2025
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Diego Robles Arellano
Age : 21
Gender : Male
Race : Latino/a/e
Date : 05/01/2021
Location : I-25 and Roy Avenue
City : Albuquerque
County : Bernalillo
State : New Mexico
Agency : Cuba Police Department
Officer(s) :Officer Brandon Roybal Barber
Cause of Death : Vehicle
Event : Bystander killed by off-duty police officer driving drunk
OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :
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REASON FOR POLICE DRIVING: Off duty — drunk driving
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NARRATIVE:
On 05/01/2021 at approximately 2:00 a.m., Diego Arellano Robles, 21, was riding south on Interstate 25 with his brother Fernando Arellano, 21, and Alfredo Escaname-Hernandez, 50. The three Denver residents were traveling to Juárez, Mexico, to visit family. Diego's brother later remembered him as a funny young man who loved cars, video games and car meets and was just beginning to figure out what he wanted to do with his life.
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Off-duty Cuba Police Officer Brandon Barber, 29, was driving a Ford F-150 north in the southbound lanes of I-25 with his headlights off when he crashed head-on into their GMC Yukon near Tramway Boulevard. Diego and Alfredo died at the scene. Fernando suffered critical injuries, including a brain bleed, and was initially believed to be brain-dead before his condition began improving.
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Bernalillo County sheriff's deputies reported that Barber smelled of alcohol, had bloodshot and watery eyes and had a half-empty bottle of liquor inside his truck. Barber declined to answer deputies' questions at the scene. He was arrested on vehicular-homicide and DWI charges.
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Diego's family publicly demanded accountability after Judge Brett Loveless denied prosecutors' request to keep Barber jailed pending trial. Barber was released under supervision with orders not to drive or drink and was subjected to alcohol monitoring. Diego's brother Armando Robles said the family wanted justice for Diego, while other relatives called Barber's release insulting. A fundraiser for Diego's funeral quickly reached its goal, which his brother attributed to Diego's large circle of friends and the car community that knew him.
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Cuba Police Chief Manuel Romero initially placed Barber on administrative leave. Barber, who was still a probationary police officer, was subsequently fired. He was also a captain in the New Mexico National Guard and faced potential military action under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
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In December 2022, Barber pleaded guilty to two counts of DWI homicide, one count of DWI great bodily harm by vehicle and driving with an open container. On 03/15/2023, Judge Stanley Whitaker sentenced him to 26 years in prison followed by five years of probation. At sentencing, Diego and Fernando's mother, Maria Isabel Escaname, told the court that Fernando still had not fully recovered from his injuries.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
Brandon Barber had already been arrested for DWI in 2016. He pleaded guilty and completed New Mexico's First Offender Program, including a year of supervised probation, ignition-interlock requirements, random alcohol and drug testing and community service. Despite that prior DWI conviction, Barber later became a police officer. His second DWI resulted in the deaths of Diego Arellano Robles and Alfredo Escaname-Hernandez and critical injuries to Fernando Arellano.
