Update: Las Cruces Police searching for man wanted in beating of 61-year-old

Las Cruces Police are asking for the public’s help in finding a man who allegedly beat a 61-year-old man.

The person also is accused by police of dumping the victim on the East Mesa and stealing his vehicle, a 2002 Dodge Neon, sometime Wednesday evening. The license plate is JAD384.

Police are looking for 37-year-old Abel Montes, who lives in Las Cruces or Vado, N.M. Police say Montes may be driving the victim’s vehicle and in the company of his girlfriend, a woman identified only as “Martina,” who may be in her early 40s.

Montes and Martina were last known to be driving south toward El Paso or Mexico, according to police.

At around 11 p.m. Wednesday, July 1, police were sent to the 5300 block of Sunny Acres Drive on the city’s East Mesa where the victim was falling in and out of consciousness.

He was flown to University Medical Center of El Paso with what appeared to be blunt force trauma to his head, according to police.

The victim was in critical condition and his injuries could possibly be life-threatening.

Las Cruces Police say the victim had been dropped off just inside city limits on Peach Tree Hills and he somehow made his way to a residence on Sunny Acres Drive where he sought help.

Montes is Hispanic, 6-feet-2-inches tall, weighs about 150 pounds, and has brown hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Montes or the victim’s 2002 Dodge Neon is asked to call 911 immediately.