An Española man took Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s deputies on a chase on highways and back roads, over and in rivers and through fields, while driving an allegedly stolen and conspicuous vehicle: an orange BMW SUV.
Deputies swarmed the Hernandez area on Oct. 4, days after the stolen vehicle caught the attention of RASO Sgt. Jonathan Coriz, who tried to stop it in Alcalde a few days earlier for having no license plate, he wrote in an incident report. He found the vehicle was confirmed as stolen out of Santa Fe and the driver, Adrian Chavez, 26, was wanted on a bench warrant for failing to appear for a court hearing in a district court case where he is charged with embezzlement of a vehicle.
Coriz started the second chase on Oct. 4, when he spotted the orange 2015 BMW X1 and started following it. He didn’t turn on his lights or siren because the last time, it started a high-speed pursuit, but he called in other deputies to saturate the area and try and stop Chavez, according to incident reports.
Deputy Alfonso Murillo answered the call, along with other deputies, as they worked on a plan to stop the SUV. Multiple deputies positioned themselves to throw spike strips to pop the tires, in either direction that the SUV could go, Murillo wrote in an incident report. He spotted the SUV driving on private drives and county roads adjacent to the highway before deputies tried to throw their spike strips, which Chavez managed to avoid.
After avoiding the spike strips, as he headed south on U.S. Highway 84, Chavez allegedly started driving into oncoming traffic, nearly causing multiple collisions. Deputies pulled back and called New Mexico State Police to see if they could send someone to ram the back, causing it to spin out, called a PIT maneuver, Murillo wrote.
While deputies were holding back, but still following, Murillo watched as the SUV turned onto State Road 74, then hit the brakes hard at the bridge and hit the guardrail. Chavez allegedly jumped out of the vehicle and into the water below, letting it take him to the south, Murillo wrote.
Murillo climbed over the guardrail, made it down to the river and went down a path that led to the river bank further downstream, while he received updates on Chavez’s location from Deputy Hansel Felix, who was watching from the bridge, he wrote.
“I then located Adrian walking south along the eastern portion of the river,” he wrote. “I presented my taser in the direction of Adrian and gave him commands to start moving towards me with his hands up. Adrian was ultimately apprehended and placed into handcuffs while in the river.”
He then arrested him on the bench warrant.
Chavez has not yet been charged with anything related to the pursuit or stolen vehicle, according to online court case records.
Embezzlement Case
Chavez’s history of cases is mostly vehicle embezzlement. In the case in which he was wanted on a bench warrant, a Santa Fe County grand jury indicted him on July 3, on a single count of embezzlement of a motor vehicle for allegedly being “entrusted” with a 2012 Mercedes-Benz that he “kept rather than returning,” a fourth-degree felony, stemming from an incident on April 1, 2023.
According to a criminal complaint, Chavez signed a 24-hour test drive contract with Carmax and they waited 72 hours before reporting it stolen and had been calling and texting him to return the car.
Another case was filed in Santa Fe Magistrate Court on Sept. 2, for a BMW X1, although it is unclear if it is the same vehicle he allegedly crashed into a guardrail. In that case, he signed a 20-minute test drive contract on Aug. 29 and never returned with the car. Again, the dealership waited 72 hours before calling police.
In that case, he was released on his own recognizance on Oct. 8 and a preliminary examination is set for Nov. 25.
He was set to be arraigned on Oct. 10 and the case was continued. No further court dates have been set.