Life on the lam was brief
An inmate experienced a brief moment of freedom when he took control of the van that was transporting him and two other inmates from Bernalillo County Detention Center to McKinley County Adult Detention Center March 21.
The two male inmates 35-year-old Joshua Hall and 36-year-old Rickie Billie were shackled and handcuffed and placed in the rear compartment of the transport van. The lone female, 45-year-old LaCosta Reeves, was shackled in the side compartment of the van.
Before getting onto I-40, there was some commotion in the rear compartment so the deputy stopped to check on his restrained passengers and found nothing alarming. He got back on the road and headed westbound on I-40 when Hall claimed that he was having trouble breathing, stating he was having a heart attack.
The deputy pulled off at the 66 Pit Stop, west of Albuquerque, and called for an ambulance.
He opened the rear door of the van to check on Hall. He moved him out of the van and had him sit on the step.
“[Hall] kept saying I can’t breathe, I am having a heart attack, and that’s when he attacked my deputy,” McKinley County Undersheriff James Maiorano said.
Also, unknown to the deputy at the time, Hall had removed his handcuffs. He then attacked the deputy. Next, a physical struggle ensued and they both fell to the ground.
Hall tried to take the deputy’s firearm, but the deputy drew his weapon. But, as Hall appeared compliant he made a move for the driver’s seat of the transport van.
The deputy struggled with Hall at the driver’s side door of the van, but Hall got behind the wheel and sped off, knocking the deputy to the ground. The deputy immediately called 911.
A report was received that the van was seen exiting I-40 at Exit 131 and heading north. New Mexico State Police located the van and Hall fled in the vehicle with the two inmates still in the rear and side compartments.
The pursuit continued westbound on I-40, where multiple attempts to deflate the tires using spike strips were unsuccessful. By this time, several agencies, including Cibola County Sheriff’s Office, McKinley County Sheriff’s Office, State Police, and Laguna Police, were actively trying to stop the van.
Still westbound, nearing Exit 102, Hall abruptly veered the van off the right shoulder and drove through the right-away fence, continuing north through an open field. Once Hall got to the Old Route 66 pavement, Cibola County Sheriff and State Police, used their vehicles to pin the van in place so Hall could no longer flee.
Defeated in his escape efforts, Hall was taken into custody and the two other inmates were transferred to different vehicles for transport to the McKinley County Adult Detention Center. No injuries to the inmates were reported at the time of the incident.
Hall was being transported to McKinley County Adult Detention Center to be booked on a shoplifting warrant. He also possessed a warrant for failure to appear in Cibola County for the original charge of aggravated fleeing from a law enforcement officer.
He also is facing federal charges for assault on a federal officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon.
According to a U.S. District Court criminal complaint, Hall got into a confrontation with U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents on March 15, when he and his passenger identified as “M.S.” was approached at Route 66 Travel Center, fueling up a truck that was stolen in Grants the day before.
Instead of complying with agents demands to get out of the truck, he charged at one agent, striking his vehicle.
“In response, the victim agent discharged his service firearm at least [once], striking Hall,” the complaint states.
From there, Hall struck a gas station patron’s car with the stolen vehicle, and M.S. fled on foot.
Meanwhile, Hall faces a laundry list of state charges, adding to his career criminal resume –– a decade-old rap sheet that includes kidnapping, aggravated assault, forgery, and burglary just to name a few.
The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office is handling the incident and the crimes that took place at the 66 Pit Stop, and Cibola County Sheriff’s Office is handling the crimes that took place in Cibola County, and they took Hall into custody as well.
The deputy involved sustained minor injuries from the physical altercation, Maiorano said.
Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office charges:
Assault with intent to commit a violent felony upon a piece office
Assault on a peace officer
Battery on peace officer
Disarming a peace officer
Resisting, evading, obstructing
Escape from jail
False imprisonment
Unlawful taking of a motor vehicle
Cibola County Sheriff’s Office Charges:
Kidnapping (first degree)
Assault with intent to commit a violent felony on a peace officer
Receiving or transferring stolen motor vehicles (second offense)
Assault with intent to commit a violent felony
Aggravated fleeing a law enforced officer
Criminal damage to property (Over $1,000)
Driving while license revoked
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