A Rio Rancho woman is being accused of multiple battery charges following a neighborly dispute.

On June 6, Rio Rancho police officers were dispatched to the 600 block of Vancouver Road in reference to a battery. 

A woman was pulling into her driveway when another woman, 39-year-old Carrie Schlachter, allegedly “confronted her out of nowhere.” 

Schlachter claimed that the woman almost hit her with her car. The woman said that was not true and that Schlachter just wanted to start a fight because “they have been having issues as neighbors,” according to a criminal complaint.  

The argument got heated when Schlachter went to her vehicle, grabbed a wrench and allegedly hit the woman’s boyfriend over the head with it multiple times. 

The girlfriend started throwing punches at the suspect. When she did, her boyfriend took the wrench away from the suspect. 

He and his girlfriend then tried to get back into their apartment when Schlachter stopped them and punched him in the body and face, the complaint states.

The boyfriend said that the suspect demanded to get the wrench back so he gave it to her. She then took the wrench and reportedly hit his girlfriend in the chest with it as she tried to get inside her apartment. 

The couple were eventually able to get inside the apartment and call 911. 

While they were inside the apartment, Schlachter took the wrench and tried to break their ring indoor camera before leaving. 

‘Did not make sense’ 

Later, officers arrived in the 3100 block of Sue Circle for an unrelated civil reason where Schlachter was found and arrested. 

When asked what happened, she said she was working on her truck when the female victim almost hit the suspect with her vehicle.

The suspect’s story, according to the officer, “did not make sense” because while she said she almost got hit by the female victim in the roadway, there was no pickup near her home. 

Nonetheless, Schlachter admitted she confronted the woman about the supposed incident and an argument ensued. 

Initially, she denied having a wrench.  But video surveillance “proved otherwise” and the officer told the suspect she was not telling the truth, according to the complaint.  

Schlachter quickly changed her story and said she had it because she and her mother were were the ones attacked by the victims.

“Carrie continued to be deceptive and argumentative,” the report states.

The suspect is being accused of two counts of aggravated battery (deadly weapon), tampering with evidence, criminal damage to property (under $1,000) and battery. 

If convicted, Schlachter could face up to 8.5 years in prison and pay a $16,000 fine.