Document details killing of Hatch Police Officer, ensuing car chase and carjacking

A statement of facts obtained by the ABC-7 I-Team details the shooting of a Hatch police officer and the ensuing car chase, carjacking, and arrests.

38-year-old Jesse Hanes and 36-year-old James Nelson are wanted for the killing of a man in Ohio.

At 3:41 p.m. Friday, Hatch Police Officer Jose Chavez pulled over a silver 1991 Lexus with Ohio license plate GWF5431. Police said Hanes was driving the car and Nelson was riding in the passenger seat. A third man, a hitchhiker identified as Tony Jones, was riding in the back seat. The stop was made near the Pic-Quik store on Franklin Avenue.

The document states Chavez called a fellow Hatch Police Officer, Raymond Lazos, to tell him he was about to pull over the vehicle the men were riding in. Officer Lazos met Chavez on Franklin Avenue, where he noticed Chavez’s patrol unit directly behind the silver Lexus and Chavez holding paperwork next to the Lexus.

Lazos said he saw Chavez reaching for his holstered weapon while Chavez’s body moved backwards. Lazos reportedly saw smoke and Chavez’s body hit the ground.

According to the statement of facts, Lazos pulled out his weapon and fired three shots at the silver Lexus, which allegedly sped off east on Franklin Street. Police officer Valerie Montoya, responding to the scene, pursued the silver Lexus.

A couple traveling west on Franklin witnessed the shooting, the document states. The woman told police, that as their vehicle drove past the Lexus and the police units, she heard a gunshot and saw an officer fall to the ground. The boyfriend told police he also witnessed the shooting and officer Lazos fire three rounds at the Lexus. The man and the woman both told police they saw three men inside the Lexus.

Investigators also spoke with three residents of Rincon, New Mexico who live within blocks of each other. All three said they witnessed two men, including a Black man holding a suitcase (identified by police as Jones), arguing with a wounded man wearing a red shirt inside a Lexus. The man inside the vehicle was yelling at the men outside, asking them to get back inside the vehicle or he would leave them.

One of the residents went back inside her home to call 911 when she heard two gunshots. She went back outside to find the Lexus driving away and a man wearing a blue shirt (identified by police as Nelson) chasing after it. The woman’s 9-year-old son was walking home from school at the time. The boy told police he saw two men arguing with a man inside a Lexus on the 200 block of Kingman Street. The boy heard two gunshots and ran away from the car.

Police said Hanes then drove to a rest area on I-25 near mile marker 30, where he left the Lexus behind and allegedly stole a Chevrolet Cruze.

Two women traveling from Minnesota from Arizona told state police officers a man wearing a red shirt and shorts demanded the keys to their vehicle. When they refused, the alleged carjacker approached another man, and not only demanded the keys, but also that the man go with him. The women told investigators the man gave the carjacker his keys, but refused to go with him. The women heard a single gunshot, the document states.

A sheriff’s deputy spoke with the victim of the carjacking, who said he was shot in the hip when he refused to get into his vehicle (Chevrolet Cruze) with the carjacker. While waiting for police to arrive at the rest area, he noticed the silver Lexus left behind by the carjacker. The man said he noticed shell casings and blood in and around the vehicle.

The document states an FBI agent interviewed Jones, who said he was in the vehicle with Hanes and Nelson. Jones said he was asleep in the backseat and woke up when Chavez pulled them over. Jones told police he saw Hanes pull out a gun and shoot Chavez. While they were driving away from police, Hanes allegedly shot himself, Jones said.

Nelson told police he also fell asleep in the car and woke up when Chavez pulled them over. Nelson said Chavez asked for the vehicle’s registration and for Hanes to exit the vehicle when Hanes pulled out a gun and shot the officer. Nelson said Hanes was wearing a red shirt at the time he shot the officer.

Both Hanes and Jones told investigators they exited the Lexus and were left behind. Police arrested Jones after a search of the suitcase he was carrying allegedly turned up methamphetamine. Nelson was arrested on a “fugitive from justice” charge on an outstanding warrant for a murder in Ohio.

The investigator who arrived at a home on the 23000 block of Highway 185 reported seeing the Chevrolet Cruze wrecked into a pile of wood, underneath a metal frame holding a shed together. The car’s doors were opened and a man wearing a red shirt was in the driver’s seat. The investigator also saw a handgun in the vehicle. That man was arrested and later identified as Jesse Hanes. Police learned Hanes has an outstanding warrant for his arrest in Ohio on a charge of Aggravated Murder.

The statement of facts also states paramedics who airlifted officer Chavez to University Medical Center in El Paso said he suffered a single gunshot wound in the upper chest/lower throat area just above his ballistic vest. Officer Chavez was conscious and breathing during transport to UMC. Hospital officials said surgeons performed emergency trauma surgery, but officer Chavez died at about 8 p.m. Friday.

Hanes is charged with First Degree Murder (Willful and Deliberate). Nelson and Jones were not charged in the killing of Officer Chavez.