Man briefly detained after acting oddly when he dropped off 3 envelopes at different Dona Ana offices

Dona Ana County Sheriff’s deputies detained a man for questioning Wednesday following a suspicious package call from the Dona Ana County Government Center.

The man, who passed out similar envelopes at two businesses before dropping one off at the government center, was not arrested because he did not have criminal intent to harm anyone.

A Doa Ana County Clerk’s Office female employee told sheriff’s detectives the man was behaving oddly from the moment he walked into the office just after noon, describing how he reportedly followed another county employee through a locked entrance with reserved, keycard-only access.

An employee approached the man immediately and told detectives he appeared disoriented.

When asked if anyone could help him, he replied, “I’m not sure yet,” according to a county clerk employee.

The woman said the man then handed her a small manila envelope and told her not to open the envelope immediately, but to “wait until she got home.”

She said the man also asked her to write him, and then gave a partial Sonoma Ranch address.

The woman, who was part of a recent county-wide training for employees on how to deal with potentially dangerous situations in the workplace, immediately notified the Doa Ana County Sheriff’s Department.

“We take the security of our staff seriously,” said Scott Krahling, Deputy Doa Ana County Clerk. “In this case, our employee acted exactly as she should have to ensure everyone in the building was safe.”

The incident prompted the evacuation of the government center to allow the Doa Ana County Sheriff’s Bomb Squad to conduct a sweep and remove the envelope.

A bomb squad technician later retrieved the envelope, and learned it contained a commercial real estate publication.

No evidence of explosive material was found.

The employee gave a description of the man to sheriff’s deputies, who then distributed that information to regional law enforcement officers.

An officer that was at the Travelcenters of America truck stop on the corner of Amador and Motel Boulevard identified a man who matched the description and notified sheriff’s deputies.

The man was then taken to the Doa Ana County Sheriff’s Department for questioning.

Because the man did not have any criminal intent to harm anyone, he was free to leave following his interview with detectives, sheriff’s officials said.

During his interview, the man told detectives he left copies of the same real estate advertisements with two other women – one at a restaurant across the street from the government center, and another at the Family Dollar on Valley Drive.

Neither incident was reported to authorities by the recipients.