LCPD: Man tried to run over officer during traffic stop
LAS CRUCES – A man who police said backed into an officer during a stop faced a judge Monday as prosecutors tried to keep him in jail.
Jonah Escalante, 22, faces charges of aggravated assault on a peace officer with a deadly weapon, criminal property damage, and two counts of resisting arrest.
According to an affidavit by Las Cruces Police Det. Oscar Magallanes, two officers stopped Escalante and his passenger on Sept. 27 on the 700 block of North Valley Drive near the Days End Motel.
Officer Hilario Ibarra told Magallanes he believed the vehicle Escalante was driving, a 1987 red Toyota truck with a camper, matched a reported stolen car. As Escalante pulled into Days End, Ibarra said he flipped on his lights and sirens. Ibarra exited his unit and told Escalante, as he was exiting, to stay in the truck.
Instead, Ibarra said Escalante got back into the truck, shifted into reverse, and accelerated backward, nearly striking Ibarra. Escalante skimmed Ibarra's patrol unit with the truck and then sped away.
According to Magallanes' affidavit, Escalante pulled back onto North Valley Drive with Ibarra and another officer on their tail. Escalante then turned to head north as other LCPD officers joined the pursuit. Police then brought Escalante to a stop using a PIT maneuver near Organ Avenue.
Escalante ran away, but officers quickly caught up and detained him, according to the affidavit.
The Toyota truck Escalante was driving was reported stolen on Sept. 24. However, the truck owner didn't want to press charges, the affidavit stated. Escalante later told police he paid a family member of the truck owner to use the vehicle while Escalante's vehicle underwent repairs.
After his arrest last week, the prosecutor sought to convince a judge to hold Escalante in jail until the court resolved the case. Pretrial detention is not to be punitive. Instead, pretrial detention is meant to protect the public from dangerous individuals in circumstances where no conditions of release — such as restraining orders or ankle monitors — could ensure the public's safety.
In this case, prosecutors argued to 3rd Judicial District Judge Richard Jacquez that Escalente's actions proved he was dangerous. Jacquez found that Escalante was dangerous, but prosecutors did not prove no release conditions existed.
Jacquez allowed Escalante to leave jail until his case concluded.
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Justin Garcia is a public safety reporter for the Las Cruces Sun-News. He can be reached at JEGarcia@lcsun-news.com.
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Las Cruces police: Man tried to run over officer during traffic stop
