A Roswell man faces numerous criminal charges in connection with a Monday afternoon (June 20) incident that started with a carjacking and kidnapping in Roswell and ended an hour and 20 minutes later when the stolen vehicle flipped onto its side more than 70 miles away in Tatum after being pursued by multiple law enforcement agencies.
Joel Omar Contreras, 27, was being held without bond Tuesday (June 21) at the Chaves County Detention Center on charges filed by the Roswell Police Department of armed robbery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (four counts), kidnapping, aggravated fleeing a law enforcement officer, false imprisonment, felon in possession of a firearm, interference with communications, and aggravated assault on a peace officer.
The carjacking that initiated Monday’s string of events occurred around 4:20 p.m. in the Allsup’s convenience store parking lot in the 2200 block of South Sunset Avenue. Contreras (pictured) allegedly approached a GMC Denali pickup truck, threatened the male driver by pointing a gun at him, forced the driver out of the pickup and stole the truck.
RPD officers and members of the Chaves County Sheriff’s Office began looking for the stolen truck, but before they could locate it, Contreras allegedly drove it to Loveless Park in the 1200 block of North Atkinson Avenue where he is accused of pointing a gun at three males and a 23-year-old woman and forcing the woman to come with him in the truck. Contreras is accused of taking the woman’s phone away from her when she tried to call for help.
The truck was then spotted by law enforcement and RPD and CCSO units began pursuing it as it traveled at high speeds through various areas of the city, at times driving on the wrong side of the road, going through stop lights and stop signs, and running other vehicles off the road. Contreras eventually drove the truck out of the city heading east on U.S. 380.
As the pursuit continued on the highway east of Roswell, with speeds reaching around 100 mph and New Mexico State Police joining to assist RPD and CCSO, Contreras at one point attempted to drive the stolen truck head-on into a law enforcement vehicle, but was prevented by his kidnapping victim, who grabbed the steering wheel to change the direction of the truck.
Law enforcement used spike strips to spike the truck’s tires around 5:35 p.m. as it approached Tatum. It reached Tatum about five minutes later with some or all of its tires deflated and riding on tire rims. The truck then flipped onto its driver’s side in Tatum and Contreras was taken into custody. Contreras and the kidnapped woman were treated at separate hospitals for minor injuries.
The pursuit, which also included the assistance of the Lea County Sheriff’s Office, did not result in any vehicles being struck by the stolen truck or any other vehicles, and no injuries were reported to any other motorists, other civilians or law enforcement personnel.
Original source can be found here.
