WASHINGTON (AP) — As coronavirus cases surge again nationwide the Supreme Court late Wednesday barred New York from enforcing certain limits on attendance at churches and synagogues in areas designated as hard hit by the virus. The justices split 5-4 with new Justice Amy Coney Barrett in the majority. It was the conservative’s first publicly discernible vote as a justice. …
Police say a man who claimed he “rented” a stolen car was caught with more than 80 grams of drugs and arrested for trafficking. Ernest Pineda, 35, of Hobbs, was found in a car reported stolen on Monday after the victim used On Star to locate the vehicle and notified police. According to a Hobbs Police Department criminal complaint, Pineda …
After allegedly trying to sell stolen appliances on Facebook, two men were arrested and charged in the crime. Joel Garcia Espinoza, 28, and Tomas Valenzuela-Hernandez, 24, were both arrested after attempting to sell stolen kitchen appliances online. According to a Hobbs Police Department criminal complaint, a contractor of a home contacted police on Monday when he noticed stolen appliances being …
More auto burglaries have been reported this year compared to 2019. A common theme Hobbs Police Department has noticed in 2020 is firearms are being taken in the process. Hobbs has seen a major spike in auto burglaries from last year – up more than 200% in August alone. Reports decreased in September, but are still 65% more than the …
Officers with the Hobbs Police Department were called to a motel on the 600 block of N. Marland in reference to a subject with a gun on Thursday. “The initial dispatch report was the subject was going to different rooms and pointing the gun at them, it was also reported the subject had kicked the front door open and entered …
Hobbs Police officers identified a car burglar by a bicycle on Saturday. Dustin Harper, 35, of Hobbs, was arrested on Saturday after a car window was smashed in and the vehicle rummaged through at a business on the 2200 block North Turner. According to a Hobbs Police Department criminal complaint, officers found the car while patrolling the area and found …
An inmate at the Lea County Detention Center was found guilty of kidnapping and beating a prison officer to escape from jail. On Friday, Gabriel Rodriguez, 29, of Hobbs, was convicted of kidnapping, a first-degree felony; assault with intent to commit a violent crime on a peace officer, a second-degree felony; and attempt to escape from jail and conspiracy to …
Police officers suspect two thirteen-year-old juveniles of burglarizing 22 vehicles in a neighborhood before they were arrested. According to the HPD criminal complaint, two 13-year-old juveniles were arrested after a homeowner’s surveillance video caught them breaking into vehicles, including break-ins along West Coal, North Vista, North Jade, West Iron and North Cielo Streets. The report states on Sept. 5 officers …
After taking a plea deal for charges of criminal sexual contact in July, Ruben Sanchez was arrested again Tuesday for similar charges. Sanchez, 39, of Tuscon, Ariz., was arrested Tuesday and charged with criminal sexual contact of a minor, a second-degree felony; and four counts of criminal sexual contact, all third-degree felonies, according to court records. In a previous case, …
Attorneys representing the Lea County Sheriff’s Office and Lea County Sheriff Corey Helton fired back at the writ of mandamus petition filed by New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas at the end of July. The AG filed the court action hoping to compel the sheriff and deputies to enforce the “Public Health Emergency Orders” created by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. …
