Las Cruces Police arrest man who allegedly assaulted officers, damaged motel room
Las Cruces Police have arrested a 31-year-old man who allegedly assaulted two police officers and damaged a motel room early Thursday morning.
An armed man is suspected of assaulting two officers and causing damage to a motel room early Thursday morning.
Jeremy L. Sanchez, 31, of the 600 block of Renteria Street in Mesilla Park, is charged with two counts of aggravated assault on a peace officer, and one count each of criminal damage to property and arson.
Police say shortly before 3 a.m. Thursday, police were sent to the Motel 6 on 235 La Posada Ln. after a panic alarm was set off in room 118.
Officers attempted to make contact with the occupant of the room, identified as Sanchez, but were initially unsuccessful.
Police believed someone inside the room might be in trouble or having a medical emergency, so they tried to enter the room with a key but weren’t able to. They then forced their way into the room but saw Sanchez crouched down and allegedly holding a knife.
Several surrounding rooms were evacuated and officers continued to try to persuade Sanchez to leave the room.
Police say he went into the bathroom and allegedly moved aggressively toward two officers and threatened them with the knife.
Officers discovered that Sanchez allegedly damaged fixtures inside the bathroom and broke through the sheetrock separating his room from others within the motel.
He also allegedly started a fire inside the room. Officers and Las Cruces firefighters extinguished the fire but Sanchez continued to be noncompliant.
Officers, with help from motel employees, evacuated all occupants of that wing while the Las Cruces Police Department’s SWAT team was called into action.
Multiple less-lethal tactics were deployed by officers before Sanchez exited the motel room and was taken into custody at around 7 a.m. Damage to the motel room is believed to be in excess of $2,500. No officers were injured during the incident.
Sanchez was booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center with bond set at $10,000.
