LCPD: Man, ‘intoxicated and paranoid,’ pulls out handgun inside Dublin’s Street Pub

Las Cruces Police officers arrested a man suspected of brandishing a firearm inside a liquor store while intoxicated.

Juan Amezquita, 23, of the 900 block of Laurel Street, is charged with a felony count of unlawfully carrying a firearm in a licensed liquor establishment and a misdemeanor count of carrying a firearm while under the influence of alcohol or narcotics.

Police officers were dispatched to Dublin’s Street Pub, located at 1745 E. University Avenue, to investigate reports of a man brandishing a handgun inside the establishment. The incident was reported at about 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 5, 2018.

When the officers arrived, they were told the suspect, identified as Amezquita, was in the parking lot. The police officers met Amezquita and allegedly found a .380 caliber handgun in his right, front pocket, police said. The officers took Amezquit into custody without incident.

Investigators learned Amezquita had been drinking alcohol and was intoxicated when he “became paranoid inside the pub,” pulled the handgun from his pocket and waved it above the table where others were sitting, police said.

One of the men sitting at the table indicated to investigators he was in the gun’s line-of-fire and felt unsafe because Amezquita’s finger was on the trigger.

Amezquita was booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center where he is initially being held without bond.