Federal authorities at the U.S. Attorney's Office say a Dulce man is facing serious time after he shot and wounded an underage girl.

Federal prosecutors filed a charge this week against 21-year-old Jicarilla Apache Nation member Leandrew Cody Velarde, alleging he shot the girl in a car during an argument.

The girl was riding as a passenger, with another girl driving, when the two picked up Velarde, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court. Velarde began to argue with both of the girls; then they heard a loud noise and the alleged victim realized she had been shot in the buttocks, investigators wrote in the complaint.

Authorities say the girl took out her phone to call the police, but Velarde grabbed it and threw it onto the dashboard before leaving the vehicle. He

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