Officer Philip H. Chacón, 36, of the Albuquerque Police Department was fatally shot on September 10, 1980, while responding to an armed robbery at a Kinney Shoe Store. Volunteering at a battered women’s shelter across the street and dressed in plain clothes, he mounted his personal motorcycle and pursued the suspects’ getaway vehicle toward East Central Avenue. Near the intersection of Central and Wyoming, a passenger in the car fired several rounds through the window, striking Officer Chacón; he fell from the motorcycle and died at the scene while the suspects escaped.

Two men, Van Bering Robinson and Reginald Walker, both 22, were arrested two days later. Robinson was convicted in 1981 of the robbery and murder but the New Mexico Supreme Court overturned those convictions in 1983 because of trial errors, including improper impeachment of an eyewitness and potential conflicts involving the public defender. Robinson was acquitted at a second trial in 1983 and later won a civil rights judgment in 1985.

Officer Chacón served eight years with the department and was active in community programs and his church; he is survived by his wife, daughter, son and other family. Does anyone have information about the 1980 investigation or the people involved that could help reopen leads?