After an Abiquiú man allegedly kidnapped his girlfriend with the help of his stepdaughter, beat her viciously with his fists and a gun, and threatened to kill her, prosecutors are seeking to have him held without bail pending trial.
The woman was able to escape to a nearby house where she had the resident call 911 on Nov. 7, and an arrest warrant for Juanito Jaramillo, 44, was signed on Nov. 8 by District Judge Anastasia Martin, though it was not entered into the court system until Nov. 14, nearly a week later.
The warrant return still has not been entered into the court system as of presstime, but it appears that Jaramillo was arrested and booked into the Tierra Amarilla Detention Center on Nov. 19. In Rio Arriba Magistrate Court, the case shows Jaramillo has an outstanding warrant, despite his arrest.
He is charged with first degree kidnapping, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault against a household member with a deadly weapon and false imprisonment.
His stepdaughter is accused of attacking the girlfriend as well, but she has not been charged.
Kidnapping and Attack
Rio Arriba Deputy Cameron Chavez wrote in an affidavit for Jaramillo’s arrest that everything started on Nov. 7 at the Ohkay Casino, after Jaramillo accused the girlfriend of infidelity.
They were both removed from the casino by security and outside the casino, Jaramillo showed the victim a Smith and Wesson 9mm pistol with an extended magazine in his waistband and ordered her into his car. His stepdaughter was inside and threatened and tried to stab the woman with a knife, but wasn’t able to because the victim grabbed her arm.
They drove off and during the drive, Jaramillo punched and hit her in the face with his fist and the pistol. He drove them to the “Devil’s Playground” in Alcalde around 4 a.m. and forced her onto a tent he laid flat on the ground as a tarp. He ordered her to get on her knees, threatened her with the gun and the stepdaughter beat her with a bat. He held a gun to her head and put it in her mouth, Chavez wrote.
At some point, Jaramillo decided to leave after seeing lights from an approaching vehicle and drove the woman to his ex-girlfriend’s abandoned house, but stayed in the car. Jaramillo and the stepdaughter nodded off after taking fentanyl and the victim escaped to a neighbor’s house and told her she was in fear for her life.
“During Affiant’s interaction with (victim), Affiant observed visible injuries, including a laceration near her eye and blood on her arm,” Chavez wrote.
Medics evaluated her and told her she needed to go to the hospital for more treatment, Chavez wrote.
Pretrial Detention
Prosecutor Kent Wahlquist filed a motion on Nov. 20 to have Jaramillo held without bail pending trial. He wrote that Jaramillo poses a significant danger to others and has a “long and violent criminal history, including violations of conditions of release, EM, and probation.”
A three-hour combined preliminary and detention hearing is set for Dec. 8 in Tierra Amarilla.