Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a Lumberton man, June 16, after he allegedly swung a weed whacker, while it was running, in the face of his mother’s friend, after his mother called them for a ride to Albuquerque.
New Mexico State Police Officer Oshane Greene charged Adrian Herrera, 23, also known as Steven Herrera, with two counts each of resisting arrest, battery on a peace officer and one count each of false imprisonment and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Greene wrote that he was sent to County Road 356 in Lumberton on June 15 for a disturbance. The 911 caller said her friend asked for a ride and when she got there, her friend’s son told her that she wasn’t taking his mom, threatened to break her windshield and threw a bottle through her back window.
Herrera’s mother, Maria Montoya, told officers that she called Clarice Hausley to give her a ride. Hausley arrived with her partner, Paul Redwine, and Herrera started arguing with them, telling them they were not allowed to take her from the house, Greene wrote.
“Ms. Montoya advised Adrian while standing approximately an arm’s length from Paul (he) swung a weed-eater across his face,” Greene wrote. “She advised the weed eater did not make contact with Paul’s face; however, the weed eater was on.”
Montoya denied being hurt by her son and was extremely emotional, possibly having a panic attack, he wrote.
Greene spoke to Herrera, who said he told his mother’s friends they were not taking her and they were on private property, but denied swinging the string trimmer in Redwine’s face, throwing any bottles or making threats, Greene wrote.
Greene handcuffed Herrera and put him in front of his patrol car, then called Redwine, who said Herrera was verbally aggressive toward them and swung the weed eater at his face while it was on and he was in fear of his wife, Greene wrote.
The officer then told Herrera he was under arrest and explained the charges and Herrera allegedly threw himself to the ground and started rolling around. Multiple officers tried to pick him up and he kicked two of them before they were able to lift him into the back seat of a patrol car, with the help of a Jicarilla Apache Nation firefighter.
He was ordered released on his own recognizance the same day by Rio Arriba Magistrate Judge Joseph Madrid. A preliminary examination is set for Aug. 6.
Past case
dismissed
Herrera was charged on Nov. 2, 2020, with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, shooting at a building and shooting from a vehicle, after he allegedly fired three shots at a Family Dollar store clerk.
The fight started because Herrera delivered wood to the clerk’s house earlier that year and their dogs got into a fight with each other. When the clerk asked Herrera about it, Herrera “has been making threats towards him,” Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Deputy Jerry Albo wrote in an affidavit for an arrest warrant.
Deputies found six bullet holes, closely together, in the store wall, where the victim had been standing, he wrote.
Magistrate Judge Alexandra Naranjo dismissed the case without prejudice on Dec. 30, 2020, writing “STATE NOT READY TO PROCEED.” It appears prosecutors never brought the charges again.