Dustin Bingham arrives in court Friday for a detention hearing before First Judicial District Judge T. Glenn Ellington. Photo by Maire O’Neill/ladailypost.com
 

Los Alamos Police Sgt. Tim Lonz, right, discusses his testimony with Deputy District Attorney Michael Nunez Friday in District Court. Photo by Maire O’Neill/ladailypost.com

SANTA FE — Release on bond was denied Friday for Dustin J. Bingham in the First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe. The detention hearing had been continued because Judge T. Glenn Ellington wished to hear testimony from Los Alamos Police Sgt. Tim Lonz on statements made by Bingham indicating that he planned suicide or suicide by police.

Bingham was charged with eight counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor following his May 3 arrest. He was arraigned May 4 in Los Alamos Magistrate Court. Although Bingham was charged in the Magistrate Court, state law requires his detention hearing to be held in District Court.

A motion filed by Deputy District Attorney Michael A. Nunez stated that Bingham poses a danger to himself if released as he has threatened to kill himself if arrested. It said Bingham also has made statements that implicate those family members who reported him and a detective handling the case.

There also were concerns that Bingham has access to guns and has training in using guns as a former law enforcement officer. He is a former detention officer for the Los Alamos Police Department and a former Santa Fe County Sheriff’s deputy.

The motion said Bingham is “unstable, angry and vengeful” and that “no reasonable conditions would protect those in direct danger or the community”.

At Friday’s hearing, Lonz testified that Bingham’s father had told him that during the week prior to Bingham’s arrest he had made several statements that if they police were called he would take a pistol he has in his home, and if he saw law enforcement approaching his door, he would shoot himself in the head. Lonz said Bingham also indicated to his father on another day that he would point a shotgun at law enforcement to initiate a suicide by cop scenario.

Lonz said he had spoken to Bingham immediately after he was taken into custody outside another officer’s vehicle close to the intersection of Trinity Drive and Diamond Drive. He said he was checking to see if Bingham was okay, that he had worked with him before and that Bingham was always very kind to him so he wanted to make sure he was doing okay. Lonz said Bingham indicated to him that he needed help.

“I asked him to stay strong and to promise me something, not to hurt himself, and he told me, ‘Tim, I won’t hurt myself here in Los Alamos, but I can’t promise you if I go anywhere else,’ which made me kind of sad for Dustin,” Lonz said. “Our job is to safeguard lives whether that’s from themselves or other people, that’s our responsibility and I was heartbroken when I heard that.”

Lonz said when he checked on Bingham the next say, he said he was frustrated with law enforcement and frustrated with Det. Ryan Wolking because Wolking had made the decision to have Bingham’s work vehicle towed from the scene of the arrest. Bingham’s phones had been taken into investigative custody and Lonz said he was frustrated that Wolking was not allowing him to call his boss.

Lonz said Bingham’s frustration and anger concerned him because Bingham had spoken to his father about suicide and suicide by cop, that Los Alamos is a smaller community, particularly when people have worked together and know where people live or hang out.

Asked by Nunez if he thought Bingham could pose a danger, Lonz said anyone could pose a danger so he could not say specifically if Bingham would or would not. He said he feared that because Bingham told him if he’s anywhere other than Los Alamos that he can’t promise not to hurt or kill himself, that he has his own weapons, as well as prior law enforcement and detention experience, and “he is no stranger to being able to defend himself or react to people with physical force”.

Bingham’s attorney, Stephen D. Aarons said Bingham has surrendered all his guns and would not have any of them in his possession or control. Nunez said he did not have proof the guns had been surrendered and had no way of knowing how many guns he had and if they all had been surrendered. He said until they could definitively determine there are no other guns out there, it does pose a definite risk.  He said the comments Bingham made to his father and Lonz demonstrate Bingham would be a danger to the community if he was to initiate suicide by cop either in the street or at home.

“It appears the statement made was well thought out,” Nunez said. “It was planned ahead and this was before he was even arrested.”

Nunez also said that house arrest would not prevent Bingham having access to electronic equipment making it difficult to protect the victims or even potential victims without knowing for sure. He said there were no reasonable conditions under which Bingham could be released at this time and asked that he be held without bond.

Aarons asked for conditions of release, which would put the community at ease such as “GPS, house arrest, no guns and no contact with minors. He said Bingham had “touched two young girls who are sexually developed and he is not a pedophile.

“This is not an instance where he is prowling the streets looking for minors,” Aarons said. “He did promise to turn himself in by May 5. I don’t think the suicide comment was well thought out. He’s someone who has never been in trouble before, who suddenly is going to be in a lot of trouble. He was not thinking very clearly but calmed down.”

He said Bingham had overcome his biggest fear, public knowledge and being put into custody, that after the first couple of hours there was no indication of him being a danger to himself. Aarons said nobody had argued that Bingham would be a flight risk, that he had lived here his whole life and that he “obviously needs counseling for what happened”.

“This is not a murder case. This is not someone prowling the streets for prepubescent victims,” Aarons said.

In delivering his decision, Judge Ellington said the concern the court has at this time is the danger Bingham poses to the community in general and particularly to law enforcement and others involved in the case.

Ellington expressed concern about Bingham’s statements for a week leading up to his arrest and statements made at the time of his arrest, in that he planned with specific detail as to how he may respond to further entanglements with law enforcement.

“That is a highly dangerous situation. That’s unpredictable. We have no idea what kind of decisions he’d be making on the spot or at the moment,” Ellington said.

He said the court takes into account and weighs heavily that Bingham has extensive training as both a corrections officer and a law enforcement officer and is very familiar with firearms.

“Based on the testimony, I find there are no conditions the court could impose to guarantee the safety of the community, particularly related to the first responders that may be asked to go to a location whether it’s in Los Alamos or someplace else, so he will be held without bond,” Ellington ruled.