A 24-year-old man is facing a slew of charges in two states after he’s suspected of leading police on a pursuit to El Paso Sunday morning, carjacking an SUV and briefly kidnapping its owner at gunpoint in El Paso, and then attempting to flee from police a second time upon his return to Las Cruces.
Michael Derby, of the 9500 block of Rigel Street in Dona Ana County, is charged in Las Cruces with three counts of aggravated assault upon a peace officer, two counts of aggravated fleeing from a law enforcement officer and one count of being in possession of a stolen vehicle. Additional charges against Derby are pending.
In El Paso, Derby is charged with one count of aggravated kidnapping and one count of aggravated robbery. A 25-year-old woman who was with Derby also faces charges in El Paso.
At about 3:25 a.m. Sunday, May 8, a Las Cruces Police officer conducted a traffic stop on Nissan Maxima near Rigsby Road and Barker Road. The driver was identified as Derby and his passenger was a 25-year-old woman. As the officer questioned the couple, he observed a handgun near Derby’s feet. The officer gave commands for Derby to keep his hands in view but Derby refused to comply and drove away from the traffic stop.
Derby led officers on a pursuit south on Stern Drive toward Vado. A Dona Ana County Sheriff’s deputy tried to deploy a stop stick in front of Derby’s vehicle but Derby drove directly toward the deputy, nearly striking him. Derby eventually got onto I-10 where he led officers on a pursuit toward El Paso. Las Cruces Police, through Central Dispatch, alerted El Paso County authorities of the fleeing vehicle and ended the pursuit near the state line.
Shortly after 4 a.m. El Paso Police learned that Derby pointed a handgun at the owner of a Mitsubishi Montero and forced the 29-year-old man into the SUV on the 1600 block of Northwestern in El Paso. Derby ordered the man into the vehicle as he drove to a gas station at North Desert road near Trans Mountain Road. Police learned that Derby forced the man to put $20 worth of gas into the tank. After doing so the victim made a run for it and escaped, hiding behind the gas station. The 29-year-old man was not physically injured during the incident.
Derby and the woman fled in the stolen Montero heading north to Las Cruces.
At about 8:45 a.m. a Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office deputy spotted the stolen Montero in Las Cruces and conducted a traffic stop at 1570 W. Picacho Ave. The woman with Derby earlier was no longer in the vehicle but Derby’s new passenger was a 28-year-old man.
The deputy ordered Derby to exit the vehicle but, instead, Derby sped away and led officers on a second pursuit that initially went south on Valley Drive and east on Brownlee Avenue. During the second pursuit, Derby is accused of twice attempting to strike a deputy with the stolen SUV.
The pursuit continued north through Las Cruces and into the unincorporated county east of I-25. Las Cruces Police officers finally stopped the vehicle on Windmill Road just off La Reina Road. Derby continued to ignore officer commands to exit the SUV and had to be forcefully removed.
In all, four marked LCPD units were damaged during the two pursuits.
Las Cruces Police do not expect to file charges against the two passengers who were with Derby. The 25-year-old woman, however, does face charges in El Paso for her involvement in the kidnapping and aggravated robbery.
The handgun Derby had during the initial pursuit and during the carjacking in El Paso has not been located by police.
Derby is initially being held without bond at the Dona Ana County Detention Center.
Information from Las Cruces Police