Hitchhiker picked up by fugitive accused of killing Hatch officer facing drug charge
The hitchhiker allegedly picked up by the two Ohio fugitives wanted for murder has been charged with possession of methamphetamine and paraphernalia, a spokeswoman with the Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office said Monday.
44-year-old Tony Jones was taken into custody on August 12, 2016 following the shooting death of Hatch Police Officer Jose Chavez. Jones was a passenger traveling in a silver 1991 Lexus with 38-year-old Jesse Hanes and 36-year-old James Nelson.
Jones has not been charged in connection with the killing of Officer Chavez. In court Monday, he pleaded not guilty to the drug charge. He was granted a $75,000 secured bond.
Doa Ana County Sheriff’s detectives said Hanes is the alleged gunman who shot Chavez during a traffic stop in Hatch.
Jones and Nelson were reportedly on foot when Doa Ana County Sheriff’s deputies took them both into custody. The two men reportedly abandoned the silver Lexus before Hanes went on to allegedly shoot a motorist at a rest stop near Radium Springs. Following that shooting, Hanes reportedly carjacked the victim’s red Chevy Cruze and led dozens of law enforcement officers in a pursuit that ended with Hanes’s arrest in the 23000 block of N.M. 185.
Deputies arrested Jones in the 2400 block of Rincon Avenue Friday afternoon. A search warrant filed and executed over the weekend revealed a large amount of methamphetamine in a suitcase in Jones’s possession.
Nelson was arrested on a “fugitive from justice” charge on an outstanding warrant for a murder in Ohio that also allegedly involved Hanes. Nelson has not been charged in the shooting death of Officer Chavez.
Hanes, who reportedly shot himself in the thigh during Friday’s ordeal, was transported to University Medical Center (UMC) in El Paso. As of Monday afternoon, Hanes had not yet been released from the hospital. When he is released, he will be charged with First Degree Murder: Willful and Deliberate.
The victim of the carjacking was also transported to UMC. He was reportedly in stable condition Saturday.
