Man sentenced to 24 years in prison for Alamogordo high-speed chase that led to standoff

Kaleb Scroggins, 23, was sentenced Wednesday to 24 years in prison for a 2017 Father’s Day high-speed chase in New Mexico that led to a standoff.

An Otero County jury found Scroggins guilty of eight criminal charges back on May 24.

Those charges had stemmed from the events of June 18, 2017, when Scroggins shot a man multiple times in Alamogordo and then fled. Police located Scroggins in a vehicle, but he refused to stop and led officers on a high-speed chase.

The chase ended when Scroggins caused a crash on Highway 54/70 in which another vehicle was flipped over and the people inside were trapped for nearly 20 minutes. Despite crashing, Scroggins didn’t surrender and ran towards the McGinn’s Pistachio Land store. As Scroggins ran towards the business, an employee locked the door and led customers to a refrigerated room to hide. Scroggins used a handgun to break the glass to the front door and went inside.

All of the employees and customers were able to hide from Scroggins. Later on, Scroggins briefly exited the store and yelled at officers “I will kill you,” and tried to fire the handgun but was unable to do so.

Scroggins would later make several 911 calls stating he was a murder suspect, and that he had a hostage. He warned police to stay away. While inside the store, he caused over $14,000 worth of damages to the store. After four hours of negotiations, Scroggins finally surrendered.

KVIA 2019