EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — A man was arrested after he allegedly shoplifted items from a discount store in Capitan, New Mexico, tried to flee from law enforcement and ended up being shot at by a Lincoln County Sheriff’s deputy on Saturday, June 22, New Mexico State Police said.
Lincoln County Sheriff’s deputies were called out just before 1 p.m. Saturday to the Family Dollar store in Capitan, according to State Police.
Victor Herrera, 22, and Maggie Mondragon, 25, were driving in stolen pickup truck when they shoplifted items from the store, according to State Police investigators.
Lincoln County Sheriff’s deputies found the vehicle and tried to do a traffic stop, but the pair tried to flee until pulling over on Highway 380, State Police said.
Both Herrera and Mondragon got out of the vehicle and tried to flee on foot, State Police said.
Deputies were able to apprehend Mondragon, the driver of the vehicle.
Herrera fled on foot into the mountains and was not apprehended at this time, State Police said.
Later that day, a BOLO (be on the lookout) alert was issued for Herrera. State Police say that after fleeing on foot, he stole another truck and was then located by Lincoln County Sheriff’s deputies, who tried to conduct a traffic stop. Herrera continued to flee in the truck onto Salazar Canyon Road.
A deputy then used “spike strips” on Salazar Canyon Road, but Herrera allegedly drove around the spikes.
At this point, the deputy fired at least one round from his duty weapon, State Police said.
After the officer-involved shooting, NM State Police officers responded to assist with the stolen vehicle pursuit. NMSP units located the truck and conducted a Pursuit Intervention Technique (PIT) maneuver to stop the vehicle.
Herrera was then taken into custody. He was transported to an area hospital to be treated for minor injuries during the pursuit. New Mexico State Police did not say if Herrera had been shot or not.
No officers were injured during this incident.
Herrera is being charged with unlawful taking of a motor vehicle and fleeing from a law enforcement officer. They did not say what charges Mondragon would be facing.
The LCSO deputy who fired his duty weapon was not identified.
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