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Las Cruces resident sentenced to 10 years for stealing car with owner’s dog inside

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LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KVIA) -- Sergio Ivan Enriquez, 41, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for carjacking and a firearms offense.

Court documents state that on February 19, 2023, Las Cruces Police tried to stop a car with no visible license plate. The documents state that the car refused to stop, and officers later found it at a parking lot on Lohman Avenue.

Mugshot taken on March 21, 2023 (Courtesy: Dona Ana County Detention Center)

Officers then reported seeing Enriquez walking toward the car. When he spotted the officers, officials say Enriquez ran off. Officers later heard on their radios about Enriquez stealing a car at gunpoint in the same parking lot.

"During the carjacking, Enriquez entered the victim's vehicle through the front passenger door, demanding that the victim get out or drive,'" federal prosecutors explained today. "When the victim refused, Enriquez pulled out a gray handgun, forcing the victim to exit the vehicle. Enriquez then drove off in the car with the victim's dog still inside."

Mugshot taken on February 19, 2023 (Courtesy: Dona Ana County Detention Center)

Officers found the car, dog, and Enriquez at a house later that day. When officers searched the house, they found the gray handgun in the oven, as well as a shotgun in Enriquez's car.

"At the time of the incident, Enriquez, previously convicted of child abuse in 2014, was prohibited from possessing firearms," federal prosecutors stated.

Enriquez will be subject to three years of supervised release after his time in prison, officials say.

Article Topic Follows: New Mexico

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