Prisoners escape en route to Las Cruces
New Mexico State Police report that two prisoners escaped near Artesia late Wednesday night.
The New Mexico Corrections Department says 29 year old Lionel Clah and 32 year old Joseph Cruz were being transported in a van between Roswell and Las Cruces when they somehow managed to escape. Clah was sentenced for armed robbery with a deadly weapon among other charges. Cruz was sentenced for First Degree Murder and Child Abuse among other charges. Both inmates were being transported from the Penitentiary of New Mexico to the Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility. State police say they were last accounted for at 8:30 p.m.
Authorities are urging anyone living in the area or travelling along highways such as US 82 and US 285 to lock their doors and not pick up hitchhikers. The prisoners are considered armed and dangerous.
The details of the escape are still under investigation.
