A 57-year-old Ojo Sarco man is wanted on a state-wide warrant with a $1,000 bond, after he failed to appear for a pre-trial hearing in a case where he is charged with misdemeanor battery of a household member.
Clarence Lopez has been wanted on the warrant since Feb. 14, 2025 after he failed to appear for a pre-trial hearing in the case, where he allegedly beat his wife. He was initially arrested on Dec. 19, 2024.
The warrant was recalled and reissued in May because it did not have the correct extradition information, according to court documents.
Lopez’s wife told Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Deputy Andres Sanchez that Lopez hit her multiple times in the face. He wrote that he saw a busted lip and “small” cuts on her head. She told Sanchez she was afraid of Lopez, he hit her in the stomach even though she is pregnant and she didn’t want to be with him anymore, Sanchez wrote in an incident report.
Another witness overhead Lopez telling his wife he was going to kill her while Lopez threatened to shoot another witness, reaching behind his back where presumably he kept is gun after the witness went to investigate what all the shouting was about, Sanchez wrote.
Rio Arriba Magistrate Judge Joseph Madrid initially released Lopez on his own recognizance and ordered him not to contact his wife.