Las Cruces man accused of swinging metal pole at restaurant customers

LAS CRUCES – Prosecutors are seeking to hold a man in jail after police said he threatened to hit three men with a metal pole.

Fernando Ibarra, 28, is charged with three counts of aggravated assault from an incident on Aug. 11.

In an affidavit attracted to a criminal complaint, Las Cruces Police Department Det. Jesse Gonzales wrote that Ibarra had gone to Las Trancas on the 1000 block of South Solano Drive last Thursday. Gonzales noted that Ibarra frequented the restaurant for a quick beer but rarely paid. Instead, restaurant employees said Ibarra’s mother almost always picked up his tab.

That process repeated on Aug. 11, Gonzales said, until a restaurant employee approached Ibarra’s mother to get the tab paid. This time, witnesses told police Ibarra became irate. They said he picked up a three-foot metal pole and started threatening the employee and two customers.

Gonzales wrote that the victims filmed the incident with their cell phones. Gonzales also said the restaurant’s security footage captured some of the incident.

Ibarra has been jailed since his arrest. On Friday, 3rd Judicial District Judge Douglas Driggers will decide if Ibarra will stay in jail even longer.

In their motion arguing why Ibarra should be jailed, prosecutors said Ibarra’s alleged actions suggest he’s a danger to restaurant employees as well as the non-employees listed in the affidavit. Additionally, prosecutors said that Ibarra was currently under a court order and had been convicted in three past criminal incidents. Lastly, prosecutors said in their motion that Ibarra had previously been held in pretrial detention.

Pretrial detention is not intended to be punitive since the defendant has not been convicted of the crime they’ve been accused of. Instead, pretrial detention is meant to be a tool that courts can use to temporarily imprison dangerous defendants while ensuring their constitutional rights are upheld.

To hold a defendant before their trial, a judge must find that prosecutors proved the person is dangerous. Then, prosecutors must prove that no release conditions, such as regular check-ins or an ankle monitor, would reasonably ensure the public’s safety.

The hearing is scheduled to take place Friday.

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Justin Garcia covers crime, courts and public safety. He can be reached via email at JEGarcia@lcsun-news.com.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Las Cruces man accused of swinging metal pole at restaurant customers