Police search for escapee

Belen

A man who was about to be arraigned Friday morning in magistrate court in Belen reportedly fled custody wearing handcuffs on one wrist.

Belen Police Lieutenant Dan Robb said Raymond Silva, 22, of Belen, was waiting to be arraigned Friday morning on several misdemeanor charges when he ran out the door on the west side.

“Our transport officer, Steve MacKenzie, had let him use the bathroom in the holding cell, and he had uncuffed one hand,” Robb said. “When his (MacKenzie) back was turned for a moment, he (Silva) escaped.”

Robb said the escape occurred about 9 a.m. when officers were busy with other prisoners who were also about to be arraigned in Judge Danny Hawkes’ courtroom.

Officers from Belen, the sheriff’s department and Los Lunas searched the immediate area in patrol cars and on foot. They talked with residents, who allowed them to search their yards, and drove through neighborhoods, trying to get a glimpse of Silva.

“We searched for him for about an hour and a half, but we never found him,” Robb said. “A sheriff’s deputy said he did see him, but we weren’t able to apprehend him.”

Robb said Silva will be facing a charge of escape from custody along with the other charges he was facing at his Friday morning arraignment.

According to a criminal complaint filed in magistrate court, Silva was charged with shoplifting and battery against a household member. Silva was arrested early Friday morning by Belen Police Officer Gerald Espinoza after he was found at his mother’s house.

On Friday morning, Espinoza was dispatched to Circle K, where the clerk gave him a description of a man who allegedly ran out of the store with a 12 pack of beer. The clerk reportedly told Espinoza the man ran east on West Aragon.

Ninety minutes later, Espinoza was dispatched to a house on North Sixth Street in reference to two males reportedly beating up a female subject, said the criminal complaint.

“Upon arrival, I observed a male standing at the screen door, yelling at a female subject,” Espinoza wrote in the criminal complaint.

The woman, who is Silva’s mother, reportedly told police that her son came to her house and tried to leave in her vehicle. According to the criminal complaint, when Silva’s mother tried to stop her son, he “punched his mother in the mouth and continued to strike at her body.”

Espinoza arrested Silva and then took him to Circle K, where the clerk reportedly identified him.

Silva is described as having a goatee, standing five-feet-seven-inches tall and weighing 140 pounds. He was last seen wearing white shorts and a gray sweatshirt with a hood. If anyone has information regarding Silva’s whereabouts, call the Belen Police Department at 864-6288.