A traumatized New Mexico family was held at gunpoint by a police officer for speeding as they tried to get their bloodied and bruised dog to the vet after it was run over by a car.
Tara and William Albrecht and their teenage son, Remi, 16, were racing down Route 550 through Bernalillo from their home in Rio Ranch to get their labradoodle, Stella, to the 24-hour emergency vet after their dog was hit.
The pup was seriously wounded and bleeding from its head as William raced against the clock to save their dying pet. But things went awry when they were stopped by a Bernalillo police officer, identified as Jeramie Nevarez, who held the family at gunpoint along the busy highway during the July 19 incident.
The harrowing ordeal was captured on the officers video lapel that showed him pointing a gun at William before turning the gun towards his wife and son.
During the video he is seen shouting at William to, 'step out of the vehicle!' before he orders him, 'to get on your knees!' as he pleads that his dog is 'gonna die!' and tells him, 'Sir, my dog's bleeding out of its mouth.'
Nevarez responded, 'I don't give a f***!' before responding officers, who arrived at the scene, intervened and he was eventually let go.
Sadly, Stella didn't make it and died shortly after arriving at the vet. Now, the family plans a lawsuit against the police.
William Albrecht is seen out of his vehicle with his hands in the air as the officer is seen pointing his weapon at him on the busy New Mexico highway
Stella, the labradoodle, was hit by a speeding car and died in July. The family was rushing her to the vet when they were stopped
The disturbing ordeal was captured on Bernalillo police officer Jeramie Nevarez's bodycam video
During the ordeal, Tara and her son watched in horror and disbelief as the officer ordered their loved one to step toward oncoming traffic and get on his knees.
'Step back, go to your left!' Officer Nevarez shouted. 'F****** faster! Get on your knees!', the video reveals.
William cooperated and had his hands in the air as the officer continued to shout out commands telling him to 'Face the f*** away from me!'
As William tried to explain to the officer what had happened to their dog, they said, the cop never approached the family's car.
It's unclear why the officers drew his gun at the family or believed they were a dangerous threat.
When DailyMail.com contacted the Bernalillo Police Department to find out if Officer Nevarez, or any of the other officers were reprimanded, they were unavailable for comment.
William told local station KRQE: 'I imagined if he was going to pull me over for speeding, I'd pull over,' he said.
'He'd say something to me and then maybe even help us get there. You know, I've heard of stories like that before, but that didn't happen.'
The mother and son were frantic as William's wife began recording the horrid events on her phone. At one point, she is heard telling her son to roll down the window. Part of the footage shows her husband being instructed to move away from the family's car.
'I'm thinking, this is unbelievable,' she told the news outlet. 'I can't believe – it's like, why didn't someone just come check with us, find out what the reason our speeding was, and help us?'
When other police arrived she was in a state of panic as she worried for the safety of her child and husband.
Footage shows three officers arriving and continuing with a felony stop, as they pointed guns at the family and shouted, 'Hands up!'
The harrowing scene was captured on the cops bodycam and showed the terrified family being held
William revealed he was for his family's well being as he recalled some of the terrifying events from that day. 'I saw my son was sticking his hands out the window, too, like, dude, our dog's going to die,' he said. 'I was scared. I was genuinely scared'
Video footage shows Tara desperately pleading with the officers as she held her dog that was bleeding and bruised, the grave injuries her pup sustained.
'She's going to die! She got hit by a car!' she said.
She filmed the disturbing exchange on her phone as she tried to tell officers for a second time, 'Sir, look she's bleeding! Look at my dog, she's bleeding out of her face and they're holding us on the side of the road.'
William's teenage son, who was shirtless, was ordered out of the vehicle and had his hands in the air, as he told police: 'Our dog's gonna die!'
The boy told the officers how serious his dog's injuries were and how she was bleeding from her head.
He pointed in the direction of the car where his mother was sitting and where his sick dog was, but William said, 'none of them seemed to even care at the moment at all.'
William revealed how concerned he was for his family's well being as he recalled some of the terrifying events from that day.
'I saw my son was sticking his hands out the window, too, like, dude, our dog's going to die,' he said. 'I was scared. I was genuinely scared.'
At one point during the stop, officer Nevarez had cops direct William's son to the patrol car. Exacerbated, he said, 'I can't believe you're doing this, sir,' he said.
Nevarez responded: 'Jesus f****** Christ, man!.'
Another officer who was on the scene eventually convinced Nevarez to let the family go.
'Let 'em get out of here,' the officer told Nevarez before making the call on his radio alerting responding units.
As police removed William's handcuffs, he told Nevarez, 'Dude, you're something else, man.'
Officer Nevarez responded, 'You're something else, sir.'
Before driving off, he told them 'that was unnecessary,' before Navarez replied, 'Good luck with your dog,' as the patrol car door slammed.
The family's dog Stella didn't make it and died shortly after they arrived at the vet.
The grieving dog mom said, 'it's horrible...she was such a great dog.'
Meanwhile, the officer who pulled them over wrote in his report that William was speeding and driving recklessly. William was never given a citation and there is no video of a pursuit.
In the officer's report, he stated, 'I drew my department-issued firearm and pointed it towards the immediate threat. I yelled for the driver to get back inside the vehicle.'
The officer also wrote that William, 'looked mad with his hands clenched in the air.'
William told the news outlet that he has always been supportive of law enforcement, but he said he is still trying to figure out what triggered the felony stop.
He shared the terror he was feeling when he saw the gun to his son's head. 'I really felt like when I got out of the car, this dude might shoot me if I make the wrong move.'
He added, 'I would never put my son in a position like that, ever.'
'I back the blue. I support the blue. Like, I always want to show him that, you know, you submit to these guys. That you're supposed to be able to trust them,' William said.
The family recalled the trauma. 'What did we do to warrant guns being pointed at our head?' Williams said.
'Pointing a loaded gun at a man's head, it's a threat, you know? And I didn't feel like I earned that threat.'
'We're talking about loaded weapons with one in the chamber where if he pulls that trigger on accident, I'm dead. My son's dead. And then what?' he said.
'Then what are they going to say? Oh, we're sorry. There's no sorry for that,' William said.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pa3IpbCmmZmhe6S7ja6iaKaVrMBwrdGtoJyklWJ%2Bc4GTamdwbV%2Bcwq95wqinZnqVp7uiuMilo6hlfprEbpnEsaCcp12ovaaxw6KloGWWlrqquNhmq6uZlpu2pHnSraapZpipuq0%3D