Couple pleads not guilty in New Mexico crime spree

A Colorado couple has pleaded not guilty to carjacking and firearms charges in a New Mexico crime spree last year that left a retired Las Cruces police officer dead.

Prosecutors say 34-year-old Daniel Allen Lowell and 32-year-old Trista Marie Schlaefli were arraigned Tuesday in a federal court in Las Cruces.

The couple from Colorado Springs was indicted last month and they remain in federal custody pending trial.

In November 2017, the two fled from a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint west of Las Cruces in a stolen pickup truck.

The couple allegedly carjacked an SUV from a family at gunpoint and a subsequent collision killed a former policeman on a motorcycle.

They then attempted to carjack two other vehicles before being arrested by New Mexico State Police.