An Abiquiú man is being held without bail after he allegedly kidnapped his girlfriend, beat her with his fists and a gun and then made calls from jail asking others to try and locate her.
District Judge Anastasia Martin ordered Juanito Jaramillo, 44, to be held without bail following a detention hearing on Dec. 12.
Jaramillo waived a preliminary hearing. He was initially charged with four counts, which has been expanded to eight counts in an amended criminal information. He is now charged with one count each of: first degree kidnapping, bribery of a witness, felon in possession of a firearm, battery against a household member and two counts each of aggravated battery against a household member with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault against a household member with a deadly weapon.
Martin wrote that it was hard for her to weigh the evidence against Jaramillo because prosecutors only used the affidavit for an arrest warrant as evidence and argued the victim and others were “present and ready to testify.” It appears that because Jaramillo waived a preliminary hearing, they did not testify.
“The Defendant argued that the victim has credibility issues and therefore the evidence is weak,” Martin wrote. “According to State’s Exhibit 1, the Affidavit for Arrest Warrant, officers took photos of injuries the officers observed on the victim, which would corroborate the victim’s statements. This factor weighs somewhat against release.”
Martin wrote that one of the factors considered heavily in her decision to find him a danger, is allegations that while in jail, he made phone calls to others, which were recorded by the jail, asking them to locate the victim.
“This is very concerning to the Court,” she wrote. “This factor weighs heavily for detention.”
Martin wrote she considered house arrest at his mother’s house, but in 2023, he was charged for an incident where he allegedly “used a firearm in the course of battering his mother, which occurred while the Defendant was on conditions of release.”
Those charges were dismissed a year later, according to court records.
His stepdaughter is accused of attacking the girlfriend as well, but she has not been charged.
No arraignment date has been set.
Kidnapping and Attack
Rio Arriba Deputy Cameron Chavez wrote in an affidavit for Jaramillo’s arrest that everything started on Nov. 7, after Jaramillo accused the victim of infidelity at the Ohkay Casino. Security kicked them out and outside, Jaramillo showed the victim a Smith and Wesson 9mm pistol with an extended magazine in his waistband and ordered her into his car. Inside was his stepdaughter, who threatened and tried to stab her with a knife, but wasn’t able to because the victim grabbed her arm.
During the drive, Jaramillo beat her, drove them to the “Devil’s Playground” in Alcalde and forced her onto a tent he laid flat on the ground as a tarp around 4 a.m. He ordered her to her knees, threatened her with the gun, 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 her to his ex-girlfriend’s abandoned house, but stayed in the car. Jaramillo and the stepdaughter allegedly nodded off from 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.