“Another Hatch officer had just arrived at the traffic stop to assist the first officer when a passenger from the vehicle exited and fired shots”, the Doña Ana County sheriff’s department said in a statement. The sheriff’s deputies found the two suspects and took them into custody.
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Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Spokesperson Kelly Jameson has confirmed that Jose Chavez died at University Medical Center in El Paso after he was airlifted from the scene of a shooting in the 700 block of Franklin in the Village of Hatch around 3:45 p.m. Friday afternoon.
However, the Doña Ana County authorities have yet to identify the two people arrested with Hanes.
Hanes’ arrest came after a dramatic vehicle pursuit, a carjacking and the shooting of a bystander whose auto Hanes stole, police said.
Chavez pulled over the auto that 38-year-old Jesse Hanes and 36-year-old James Nelson were traveling in Friday afternoon.
In this October 31, 2013 photo released by Dona Ana County Sheriff shows officer Jose Chavez at his graduation ceremony from our.
Hanes has an extensive criminal history in OH, including involuntary manslaughter and robbery convictions.
The almost four-hour episode started to unfold when Chavez pulled over a gray Lexus on Franklin Street at 3:41 p.m., according to Kelly Jameson, spokeswoman for the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office.
A third suspect, 24-year-old Whitney Kuhn of Bourneville was arrested at the time of the murder and charged with complicity to aggravated robbery and complicity to aggravated burglary.
Hanes then fled on Interstate 25 at speeds up to 100 miles per hour before stopping at a rest stop, authorities said. The condition of the motorist is unknown.
More law enforcement officers joined the pursuit, deploying a device to deflate the car’s tires. “The suspect was unable to control that vehicle, and it crashed into a pile of wood and came to rest”, she said.
Authorities say one of the suspects suffered a gunshot wound to the right thigh. Imam Maulama Akonjee, 55, and his 64-year-old associate were shot in the back of the head as they left the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid mosque in Queens shortly before 2 p.m. Deputy Inspector Henry Sautner said that Akonjee was killed and that the other man was taken to a hospital, where he died.
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Hanes and Nelson, Columbus and Newark residents respectively, were on the run. It was unclear if Nelson was involved in the carjacking, Jameson said.
