A Hobbs man who allegedly shot and killed a Lovington man in early February after reportedly kidnapping the victim with a group of men has been charged with murder. Justin P. Bates, 24, forcibly took Josue Orosco to a field off Stiles Road between Hobbs and Lovington on Feb. 3 where he battered and murdered Orosco, according to a criminal …

A third alleged suspect wanted by Hobbs police since December after a string of porch burglaries has been arrested and charged with receiving stolen property valued at more than $20,000. Shawn Darwin Calapp, 34, of Hobbs, was arrested on the second-degree felony charge Wednesday after police searched his mother’s home in the 400 block of West Park Street late last …

Booze thief steals 15 bottles of brandy A Hobbs man was arrested Tuesday for allegedly stealing $300 worth of brandy from a local bar. Tony G. Vasquez III, 23, was charged with commercial burglary, a fourth-degree felony, for allegedly stealing 15 bottles of top shelf brandy July 31 at a bar in the 200 block of North Marland Boulevard. Vasquez …

2 arrested in shooting, two injured The Hobbs Police Department arrested two Hobbs men on felony charges after a late Tuesday night shooting that left a man and woman suffering from gunshot wounds. A stray bullet from the shooting entered a nearby apartment striking a baby’s mattress. Jaquan Richardson, 21, is charged with aggravated battery and shooting at or from …

A Sunday night shots fired call led to one Hobbs man’s arrest after he allegedly threatened to shoot one officer and struck another officer on the head using a rock. Jimmy Hogan, 25, of Hobbs, was charged with aggravated battery upon peace officer and aggravated assault on peace officer, both fourth-degree felonies; and resisting, evading or obstructing an officer, a …

The family of Daniel Torres remember him as a person who loved life and could make anybody laugh. “My brother was a beautiful person he was wonderful. There was never a dull moment when he was around,” said Mary Garcia, Daniel’s sister. “He was full of life. It’s sad that it was taken from him.” Daniel, 45, was found around …

On Monday morning Hobbs Police Department officers responded to a shots fired call at Lea County State Bank. At around 11:14 a.m. HPD officers arrived at the scene they learned an armed robbery had taken place at an ATM machine located near the drive-thru teller lanes and the suspect, Lazarus Shamar Sanders, 19, fled the area on foot. Witnesses advised …

A federal lawsuit filed last week by three former Hobbs Police Department officers alleges racial discrimination and retaliation within the agency and that they were encouraged to target people of color to make quotas. The 21-page lawsuit, filed Oct. 5 in Albuquerque, on behalf of African-American officers Brandon Ellis and Vasshawn Robinson, as well as Caucasian officer Jeremy Artis, seeks …

A Hobbs man was arrested on multiple charges, including child abuse, Thursday after he allegedly got into a physical altercation with a woman and tried to injure a baby. Nathaniel Massengill, 19, was charged with abandonment or abuse of a child, false imprisonment, battery against a household member, resisting, evading or obstructing an officer and a probation violation. Around 9:30 …

A Lea County Sheriff’s deputy was arrested Wednesday on criminal sexual penetration charges. At around 4 p.m. Wednesday the Hobbs Police Department received a call from the Lea County Detention Center in regards to a female inmate reporting that she had been allegedly sexually assaulted by Edmund Wallace, a  Lea County Sheriff’s deputy, while being transported from Hobbs, to the …