Sunland Park man indicted on kidnapping, child abuse charges

District Attorney Mark D’Antonio announced Friday that a grand jury has indicted a Sunland Park man charged with holding family members hostage with a knife.

Rafael Cervantes, 18, is facing 20 felony counts including one count of kidnapping, a first-degree felony.

He was also indicted on six counts of child abuse and three counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, all third-degree felonies.

The grand jury also indicted him on several fourth-degree felonies including seven counts of false imprisonment, two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and one count of aggravated fleeing from a law enforcement officer.

According to investigators, the defendant was using a knife to a hold a woman and a young child hostage inside a vehicle. Witnesses also said the defendant threatened to kill them.

When an officer arrived, the defendant refused to surrender and allegedly attempted to flee. Using his duty weapon, the officer fired multiple shots and struck the defendant once. Earlier this week, District Attorney Mark D’Antonio announced that the shooting was justified and cleared the officer of any wrongdoing.

Meanwhile, the defendant in this case faces a maximum possible sentence of 18 years behind bars for the first-degree felony, three years in prison for each third-degree felony and 18 months of incarceration for each fourth-degree felony.

He also faces five misdemeanor offenses. Each of those are punishable by up to 364 days in jail.