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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A man is behind bars after police say he shot into a truck with a 3-year-old girl inside on Sunday afternoon in southwest Albuquerque.

Michael Baitz, 25, is charged with shooting at or from a motor vehicle, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and child abuse.

Baitz had been released from jail in November and was on probation after being sentenced to 18 months in the fatal shooting of 31-year-old Benjamin Maldonado in Dec. 2017.

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According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court, a man called 911 on Sunday and said he was following a driver who had shot at him and his daughter near Atrisco and La Bajada.

Police say they told the man to stop following the shooter and he met officers at a nearby Home Depot. Investigators found a bullet lodged in the back of the man’s truck and several shell casings on the road where the shooting allegedly occurred.

The man told police he was driving north on Atrisco when a red SUV pulled into the street and almost crashed into him.

Police say the driver of the SUV pointed a handgun out of the window and started shooting at them before making a U-turn and fleeing.

According to the complaint, the driver was able to get the license plate and officers pulled over the red SUV nearby.

Police say officers took the driver, Baitz, into custody and the victim identified him as the man who shot at his truck.

Baitz told police he had just picked up “a guy” before he almost crashed into the victim’s truck on Atrisco. Baitz said he “then heard a noise” and thought the man threw something at his SUV.

Police say Baitz told them the passenger, who is not identified, then pulled out a gun and started shooting at the truck.

“He turned around and told his male passenger to get out of the vehicle,” a detective wrote. “He did not know who the male was and could not remember what he was wearing.”

Baitz, who has a record of stolen vehicle and battery charges, most recently pleaded no contest to charges of involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence in Maldonado’s slaying. Police say Baitz shot Maldonado at “point blank” range during a fight at a northeast Albuquerque apartment on Dec. 2, 2017.

According to court records, he was on probation after serving nine months at the Metropolitan Detention Center for Maldonado’s death.

Baitz’s mother, Kathleen Baitz, said her son did not have a gun or shoot at anyone and the family hopes police do a thorough investigation to find the person actually responsible.

“There are two sides to every story and we ask that both sides are heard,” she said.