Murderer, 2nd inmate escape van in southeastern New Mexico; police come up empty on search in NW ABQ

UPDATE (1:02 a.m.): APD spokesman Daren DeAguero said the perimeter search was concluded as of 1 a.m. Friday and the suspects were not found.

DeAguero advised anyone who sees the suspects to contact police immediately.

—

ALBUQUERQUE, NM — New Mexico State Police are searching for a convicted murderer and a violent inmate who escaped from a prisoner transport van in the Artesia area Wednesday night.

The Department of Corrections says 32-year-old Joseph Cruz and 29-year-old Lionel Clah escaped Wednesday night while en route from Roswell to Las Cruces.

State police said at 3:15 p.m. that both men were spotted on surveillance footage near Gibson Blvd. and University Ave. in Albuquerque around 4:30 a.m. Thursday. State police say they now beleive the men are in Albuquerque or northern New Mexico.

At 6 p.m., Albuquerque police set up a perimeter near Coors and Sequoia NW – along Alamogordo Drive – in Albuquerque to search for the escapees, who APD a spokesman said are believed to be in the area.

At a 7 p.m. news conference, APD said officers got a tip the two men were traveling in a car on Coors. Police followed the car until the two escapees got out of the car and ran.

A woman who was in the car with the men ran as well, but was captured by police. She is in custody and is being questioned.

Police are searching throughout the area on foot for the suspects.

At a 9:50 p.m. news conference, APD spokesman Daren DeAguero said the search will continue into the night and that neither of the men have been found.

DeAguero said no one was sure how long the search would take, but that APD, BCSO and state police are “doing everything they can” to find the suspects.

He said APD was working to find a way to get people who live inside the perimeter home, but that officers wanted to be sure all areas were swept before anyone was allowed home.

He directed people stuck inside the perimeter to remain inside, lock their doors and to call 911 if they hear anything suspicious.

“These guys are violent. They’ve shot at law enforcement; they’ve murdered people,” DeAguero said.

State police have advised Albuquerque residents to exercise caution and lock all their doors. Anyone with information should contact the Albuquerque New Mexico State Police office at 505-841-9256, option 3, or call 911.

THE ORIGINAL ESCAPE

According to New Mexico Corrections Secretary Gregg Marcantel, the inmates were last accounted for around 8:30 p.m. The van made a fuel stop in Artesia around this time.

The Corrections Department is still investigating what went wrong but Marcantel says the incident isn’t a result of a lack of policies but rather “a matter of how we failed.”

Wednesday, the prisoner transport van left the Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Los Lunas around 2 p.m. The van traveled to the state penitentiary in Santa Fe and picked up four inmates—including the two who escaped. The van next traveled to the Roswell Correctional Facility to drop off some of the inmates.

The van was headed to the Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility in Las Cruces when the escape occurred.

Cruz is described as Hispanic, 5-foot-5 and 165 pounds. He has brown hair, brown eyes and has a tattoo on his left arm that says “LIF” surrounded by skulls.

Clah is described as Native American, 5-foot-11, 175 pounds and has brown eyes and black hair. He has a feather tattoo on his face, one on his neck reading “Shiprock Native” and several others on his arms.

When the men were spotted in Albuquerque, Clah was seen wearing a red or maroon shirt with a white design stretching from his left to right shoulder, blue jeans and dark shoes or boots. He was also wearing a brown hoodie.

Cruz was seen wearing a tan or light brown long-sleeved shirt or jacket, blue jeans, white shoes and eye glasses.

BOTH HAVE VIOLENT CRIMINAL HISTORY

Cruz was convicted of first-degree murder in Colfax County.

He pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, attempted murder and child abuse, in the Jan. 23, 2006 killing of Billy Chavez.  According to Raton newspaper the Raton Range, Cruz and two other men stabbed Chavez and beat him to death with a hammer.  The men also attacked Chavez’s girlfriend Erica Martinez in front of Martinez’s child.  Martinez survived.

Clah was convicted in San Juan County of armed robbery and assault on a peace officer for shooting at deputies during a chase in 2007.

“Right away, I was thinking, ‘great,'” said Sgt. JJ Roberts, one of the San Juan County sheriff’s deputies involved in the chase with Clah back in 2007. “Flashbacks of what happened then, and hopefully that doesn’t happen again as far as when he’s found, because he will be found.”

“He demonstrated then back in ’07 his willingness to get away at whatever cost, and I have no doubt that that’s going to be the same,” Sgt. Roberts continued. “Or he’s going to feel even more of a reason to run or fight or possibly harm other people in his way.”

ROAD BLOCKS AND CHECKPOINTS IN SE NM LIFTED

Anyone traveling in Artesia or Roswell or along major roadways such as U.S. 285 and U.S. 82 had been advised to lock their doors and not pick up hitchhikers, however that message appears to have changed now that state police have shifted their search northward.

Authorities had set up a checkpoint on U.S. 285, but the one in Artesia was already taken down. There were also checkpoints in the Alamogordo and Roswell areas.